Homecoming and Parties
by Livexthexmagic
Summary: AU High School. Aang and the Gang are in high school, and Homecoming is coming up. 'Just ask her to Homecoming already, Aang.' Kataang. On hiatus.
1. You're Invited

Another new fanfiction! I need to learn when to stop. Seriously, I have WAY to many now. Anyway, I know a bajillion people have done AU fanfictions about them all in high school and everything, but I wanted to try this out so this started out as a oneshot and developed into this whole fanfiction and this is my version. Seriously, I'm doing this for fun so I have no idea how long this will last or whatever. And it may not be socially accurate because I got into high school and three weeks later I found out I had to be home schooled, so I have no social life! So I took the one thing I was able to make it to which was Homecoming and applied it to Avatar. Because I was bored and this idea amused me, which is how I come up with a lot of fan fiction ideas. –headdesk- So yeah…this takes place when they're older obviously because twelve year old Aang wouldn't be in high school and I'll explain more about the ages later soooo enjoy! Katara gets to do the disclaimer!

**Katara: **Kat doesn't own us!

**0o0o0o0**

Katara groaned leaning against her locker.

"You'll be at my party won't you, Aang? No one else will come. No one wants to come; Haru can't make it, Teo's out of town…Toph's going to try to sneak out since her Dad doesn't let her have a social life," she sighed.

"Sure, Katara. You know I'd wouldn't want be anywhere else in the world tonight." Aang said, putting his books away.

"I can always count on you, Aang. Thanks, it'll be tonight at five thirty after my swimming practice." Katara told him.

"See you then," Aang waved as Katara went off to her practice. Aang turned back to his locker and sighed as he started to close his locker.

"Wait!" Sokka called holding the locker.

"Oh, sorry." Aang apologized. Sokka started to grab his books as Aang sighed after Katara. Sokka looked over his shoulder at his sister.

"Just ask her to Homecoming already!" Sokka exclaimed.

"I can't, whenever I do I get nervous. And if she says no then our friendship is ruined forever." Aang explained.

"Look, you're going to her party tonight aren't you?" he asked as if he didn't hear.

"Yeah, of course." Aang said.

"Just ask her tonight then." Sokka told him, slamming their locker shut.

"Maybe." Aang considered.

"Look, you'll have to ask soon if you're going to ask her. I've heard rumors that Jet and Haru were going to ask her. I've heard Zuko was going to ask her too, but that's a load of shit, I'm sure." Sokka told him.

"What? Where did you hear this?" Aang asked.

"Other than it being obvious, Suki told me. She had been talking to her friends, whose boyfriend is friends with them and they were discussing who they were going to ask." Sokka told him.

"Well, you're right. I'd have to ask her tonight, she said no one could make it, not even Haru." Aang sighed.

"Exactly." Sokka grinned. "Okay, so are you going stop by today after school before the party?"

"Yeah, well I have to get a ride with you. I just missed the bus." Aang said checking his watch.

"Okay, that's cool." Sokka slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Let's go this way." Aang pointed to the right. They started to head out and as they passed by the pool Aang slowed way down.

"Oh, you're looking for Katara, aren't you?" Sokka laughed. Aang caught a glimpse of Katara as she was finishing a lap and getting out of the pool.

"Okay, w-we can go." Aang said his eyes lingering and he snatched his eyes away.

"As soon as you stop staring at my sister like that. I'm all for giving you dating advice…but you gotta stop staring at my sister like that." Sokka told him.

"Sorry." Aang apologized as they headed out to Sokka's old car. He unlocked the doors and they both got in and Sokka drove them to his and Katara's house.


	2. Taking Advantage

Wow! I didn't expect to get so many (well if you call seven a lot) reviews on this! Yeah, all the AU's I've seen were Zutara, so I was like…I need to write a Kataang one! Anyway…so here's the next update for you guys since everyone reviewed so quickly:D Sokka go ahead with the disclaimer.

**Sokka: **Kat does not own me!

-Ahem-

**Sokka: **…or Aang…

-AHEM-

**Sokka: **OR ANYONE ELSE OKAY? Sheesh.

**0o0o0**

"Hey, Gran! I brought Aang home!" Sokka shouted.

"That's fine!" Sokka and Katara's grandmother exclaimed. Sokka threw his bag down and kicked his shoes off and Aang followed example. Sokka bounded up the stairs but instead of going straight into his messy room, he quietly snuck into Katara's clean, organized room. Aang had been in there a lot of times with her. She had photos tacked up to the wall pictures of her, Sokka and her Grandmother, pictures of her and her swim team and the most pictures she had up were of her and Aang. He smiled at one that was above her desk of that had been taken that summer when he and Katara had visited the beach. She had arms around his neck. The one below that showed them playing in the water, he smiled.

"Are you going to reminisce, all day or are you going to take advantage of Katara not being home?" Sokka asked.

"What do you mean?" Aang turned around. Sokka was holding up a notebook with a lock on it. "Her diary?" Aang's eyes grew wide. Sokka was cracking open the lock. "How did you get the key?" Aang asked jumping on her bed next to him.

"Are you kidding? It's easy! She keeps it in the locket you gave to her in the third grade; she wears it everyday of her life. I managed to get it out today before school and I'll slip it in before she writes in it today." Sokka got it open.

"She wears it everyday?" Aang asked.

"Well, yeah! Along with our mothers necklace, or course." Sokka told her.

"Wow…" Aang sat dumbfounded.

"You've never seen it?" Sokka asked incredulously.

"Well, I've seen it a few days, I just figured she wore it a few times." Aang thought.

"Anyway, okay…hm…this was a few weeks ago when we figured out when Homecoming was going to be."

_"Dear Diary, _

_Homecoming is going to be September 30th. Now that Aang goes to this high school I really hope he'll ask me to the dance. We've been best friends since he started kindergarten and now I want to be more than just friends. I met him out on the playground…I remember that day clearly, as a first grader I had wanted to welcome the kindergarteners and help handout snacks when I met him. I knew he was going to be my friend but I never knew I would know him all the way through high school and hopefully for the rest of my life. Well I have to go help Gran in the kitchen._

_Love,_

_Katara"_

"See right there, she wants _you_ to ask her to homecoming; she wants to be _more _than friends with you. Wait this is a good one, Valentine's Day last year."

"_Dear Diary,_

_I'm so excited! Aang's Great Uncle Gyatso agreed to drop us off at this great restaurant for Valentine's Day! So is this considered a date? I hope so! Aang and I haven't really been able to talk to each other since he's still in eighth grade and I'm now in high school. I can't wait till Aang comes to this high school next year! Oh, I'm soo excited for tonight. I better go get ready. I bought some new strawberry shampoo and maybe if we get close enough, Aang will be able to smell it. What am I thinking? I better go get ready._

_Love, Katara."_

"God, that was the sweetest smell…" Aang remembered.

"Later that night…" Sokka laughed.

"_Dear Diary,_

_TONIGHT WAS SO PERFECT! We got this cozy corner booth and Aang brought me this lily and a box of dark chocolates. My favorite flower _and _favorite chocolate. Somehow I think Sokka was involved. Anyway, then we ordered our drinks and we were talking about school and stuff and it was really normal until I felt his leg against his under the table." _Sokka's eyebrows rose. "Maybe I should hack into her diary more often!" Sokka exclaimed as Aang blushed. "_I think we were playing footsie!_"

"Um, okay, were done." Aang tried to shut the diary.

"WAIT! _Then after we got our food I accidentally dropped my napkin. We both leaned down to get it and our faces were so—_OH! Aang don't look bad word!" Sokka gasped.

"Sokka, I'm a big boy." Aang rolled his eyes.

"_Our faces were so damn close I could feel his breath on my cheek. Then after that he kept coming closer to my face. I think he smelled that shampoo. By the end of the dinner—"_ Sokka started to laugh "_—we were practically on each other's laps! After Aang paid and his Uncle picked us up they dropped me off and he walked me up to the doorstep. Classic set-up for first kiss, don't you think? Why am I asking you? You're only a stupid notebook. Anyway I stalled as long as I could and he wouldn't kiss me, so eventually I just decided to go inside and at THE LAST MINUTE he decides to stop me and kiss me on the cheek. Why do I always feel like I'm on a TV sitcom? Well, Gran is yelling at me to go to bed, one more piece of chocolate and then I'm off to bed. Night!_

_Love, Katara."_

"Well, that was a lot more detail than she told us. Oh, just a second." Sokka jumped up digging in his pocket. He picked up his cell phone.

"Hello?" he said into the cell phone. "Hey, Yue. Mm-hmm. How's Lua Academy treating you? Ha, ha, yeah? How are the teacher's there? Made any new friends? Yeah, we're doing fine, Katara's throwing a party tonight, so that should be fun. Aang's over right now. Okay, I'll call you later. Mm-hmm. Talk to you later." Sokka hung up.

"Yue?" Aang asked.

"Yeah," Sokka pocketed his cell phone.

"Are you two still together?" Aang asked.

"No, we decided after she was sent to private school in another country, long distance relationships wouldn't work. So we're still friends and I'm asking Suki to homecoming." Sokka grinned. Aang looked down at his watch.

"I better get going, if I'm going to get ready for Katara's party," Aang stood up.

"I'll drive you home," Sokka stood up throwing the diary back on Katara's bed.

**0o0o0o0**

Okay, so for further explanation, Sokka's sixteen, Katara's fifteen and Aang is fourteen. so I just bumped him up a year because of…POETIC LICENSE! No it just makes the story flow better and you still have the feel of Katara being older than him, like in the actual series but it's not so gawking obvious and yeah…

Also, I'll explain the back story to Sokka and Yue there. What I had intended to get across (incase if it wasn't clear) was that Sokka and Yue had been going out until Yue had been moved to a private school (Lua Academy, Lua meaning 'moon' in Portuguese) in another country, because I wanted to incorporate the whole YuexSokkaxSuki somehow without actually _killing_ Yue, lol. So yeah, if you have any more questions let me know!


	3. The Party

Hello everyone! Thank you soo much for all the reviews I'm soo happy everyone is enjoying this! -does happy little dance- -cough- Lol, yes Aang's a freshman, (so am I –cough-) but thankfully I don't have to go through all that crap cause I'm home schooled WHEE! Yeah…so it's really a lot better than going to school cause I can just sit at the computer and do school work and I can sleep in and go to the mall for lunch…but then there's the wee problem of me having NO SOCIAL LIFE (except for on the internet and chatting with you guys ;), but of course I'm going back after xmas break…ugh oh well. I won't shun my _real_ friends forever) So…um yeah…in this update we get to see Aang's house (YAY) and I tried to incorporate the Air Temple as much as I could and we get to Katara's party (which is what jumped into my brain and spurred the whole idea for this fanfiction) so YAY! Enjoy the extra long post! You guys deserve itToph gets to do disclaimer!

**Toph: **Kat does not own us! But she does own a pair of kitty socks that are very stylish –sarcastic-

Why thank you—WAITAMINUTE! –realizes she was sarcastic- GRRR!

**Toph:** LOL! Read on without me! Noooo! -kicks my butt- Never mind let's continue.

**A/N: **So I wasn't really sure if Toph was blind in this, but I was like eh what the heck, I'll keep as close as I could to the series. So she is but she can still feel through vibrations…THROUGH HER SHOES WITHOUT EARTHBENDING! Or she has special shoes that let her feel vibrations…because she's just even cooler in my AU than she is in the series. Okay, you know.

**0o0o0**

Aang lived up in a mountainous area and was only about twenty minutes away. It was a very steep ascent to the eccentrically designed house. Sokka stopped at the drive.

"Okay, get out." Sokka told him.

"What? Sokka, c'mon. I'm not walking all that way. I'll get up there by the time Katara's party starts. There's a turn around up there you can use to get down and it's not icy." Aang told him.

"God, Aang. Can't you and your Uncle live somewhere, uh, _normal?_ Maybe somewhere in suburbia? With normal driveways?" Sokka rolled his eyes as he carefully started up the driveway.

"Sokka, my family has lived in this house for generations! It's apart of our history!" Aang argued.

"Okay, whatever. Now let me concentrate or we both go over the edge and _die_." Sokka told him.

**o0o**

Katara finished putting out the food out when she heard the doorbell. She dashed upstairs dashed upstairs and opened the front door.

"Hey, Katara." Aang grinned giving her a hug.

"Aang, I'm so glad you're here!" Katara hugged him back. Aang picked her up and spun her around. "AH! Aang! Put me down!" she squealed. Aang laughed as he put her back down. He took off his jacket and untied his shoes and followed Katara downstairs.

"So this is the 'party' room." Katara said sitting down on the couch. Aang just sat on the floor while Sokka sat on one of the arms of the couch.

"I expected a lot more people than this so I had all this food and music planned and all these games like spin the bottle and truth or dare…" Katara trailed off.

"That's okay, Katara. We can have our own fun." Aang smiled.

"Yeah, let's see. We can play truth or dare. Katara truth or dare? Truth. Do you like Aang as more than friends?" Sokka asked. "Yes!" he answered himself in a high voice. "Aang, truth or dare. Dare! I dare you to ask Katara out. Katara I was wondering if you'd like to go out sometime. Oh, yes of course!" Sokka mimicked them. "Now you said you had spin the bottle, we can still play that, see watch." Sokka said getting up. He picked Katara up and put her down to sit by Aang and grabbed the bottle. "See Katara spins the bottle," Sokka spun the bottle for her, "bottle lands on Aang," Sokka pointed the bottle towards Aang "you two get up," Sokka picked them both up by their collar "and go to the closet." Sokka pulled open the closet and pushed them in. "Have fun!" he called.

"Erm, this is awkward." Aang said in the dark no having any idea he'd end up in a dark closet with Katara tonight. Katara kissed him.

"Don't want to break the rules of spin the bottle now do we?" she asked.

"Well, no." Aang sat in shock. "B-but it wasn't really formal, Sokka sort of told us to, but I suppose…" he leaned forward and kissed her again. The doorbell rang they froze.

"That's Toph, she must have gotten out." Katara mumbled.

"Sokka can get it can't he?" Aang asked.

"Well, I suppose." Katara smiled in the dark, reaching out for another kiss.

**o**

Sokka ran up to get the door.

"Hey, Toph." Sokka greeted.

"Hey, Sokka, where's party girl?" Toph asked.

"Currently in the closet with Aang." Sokka explained.

"Um…okay…I don't want to know." Toph said taking off her jacket.

"They played two person spin the bottle." Sokka laughed.

"Well, they better come out soon, you don't know what hell I had to fight through to sneak out." Toph pushed her way past Sokka. As they got downstairs Katara led their way out of the closet, her and Aang's face completely red.

"Toph! Good to see you made it!" she smiled giving her friend a hug.

"Yeah, you too, though it sounds like you and Aang already started your own fun." Toph rolled her eyes.

"Um, yeah…chips?" she offered.

"I'm good on chips." Toph refused.

"Okay…" Katara nervously giggled. "Um…" Katara stumbled and she turned on the music to fill the empty silence. "Okay, this is boring." Katara sighed. "I'm sorry you snuck out for nothing."

"Hey I could always invite—"

"You're not inviting your girlfriends over, Sokka!" Katara shouted.

"Come on, you like Suki!" Sokka yelled back.

"Not now," Katara rolled her eyes.

"We could watch a movie?" Aang suggested.

"That sounds good." Toph agreed.

"No chick flicks!" Sokka shouted.

"Okay, what do you want to watch?" Katara asked.

"_It Came From Under The Bed…_" Sokka paused dramatically, "…_Three!" _

"Isn't that rated R?" Aang asked.

"Yeah," Sokka crossed his arms. "And Katara hasn't seen it. When it gets really scary, which is basically the whole thing, she'll be hanging all over you." Sokka whispered.

"Alright!" Aang exclaimed. "Let's watch it!"

"Sokka, you know Aang and Toph aren't allowed to watch that one!" Katara scolded.

"My Dad won't let me watch it, so let's watch…er…I'll listen!" Toph shouted jumping on the couch.

"What about you Aang?" Katara asked.

"I'm fine Katara, Uncle Gyatso doesn't care." Aang boasted.

"Really? Last time I checked he said you couldn't watch rated R movies." Katara crossed her arms.

"Are you my mother or my girlfriend…I mean my friend that happens to be a girl!? C'mon let's watch that movie!" Aang followed everyone else and jumping onto the couch. Sokka put the DVD and hit play as Katara curled up onto the couch and spread her favorite sapphire fleece blanket over her.

"Here, you want some?" Katara offered.

"Thanks," Aang took a corner of the blanket. The movie started out with a dark scene with lots of things jumping out. Each time Katara clung to Aang harder and harder. Aang was truthfully scared to death and jumped every time but enjoyed Katara clinging to him. Next, there were lots of gory, gross parts; Katara buried her face in Aang's shoulder and Aang grabbed onto Katara strongly, as if protecting her. Sokka smirked as he popped a cheese puff in his mouth. The next scary part Toph screamed and jumped onto Sokka's lap, grabbing onto him and Katara let out a little scream and clutched onto Aang harder almost drawing blood with her nails.

"I'm done!" Katara shouted grabbing her blanket and running upstairs and Aang followed. "Gran?" Katara asked as Aang made it by Katara's side. Katara looked over at Aang. "Can you make Aang and I some of your hot chocolate?"

"Of course," she smiled. Katara went back to the living room and turned on the TV for background noise as Aang sat on the couch with Katara and he brought himself under the blanket with Katara. Katara yawned and looked at the clock.

"Wow, it's late, you probably should have been home by now." Katara sighed.

"It's okay, Uncle Gyatso doesn't care." Aang told her for the second time that evening. "He knows I'm at your party, he wouldn't even care if I spent the night!" Aang told her. Katara looked a little disturbed. Aang's face started to burn. "Well, what I was trying to say was that it was Sokka's house too and that we're all good friends and that…"

"I know." Katara sighed; exhausted putting her head on his shoulder and Aang blushed again feeling her stray hair tickling his cheeks. Gran brought the hot chocolate in and they both smiled in thanks as they started to sip on it. Gran pulled a picture from the mantle.

"I remember having your first snow day with Aang in the first grade Katara. He came over to play in the snow and this is you two sharing hot chocolate, just like you two are now." Gran smiled. Katara took the picture in the frame and they studied it. It showed her and a rosy-cheeked Aang under the same blanket drinking hot chocolate with their snow boots and snow pants discarded to the side. In the background Sokka struggled with getting his boots off and they both chuckled slightly.

"Weren't we so cute?" Katara giggled putting her hand over his and Aang's cheeks turned the same color as they were in the picture. He squeezed her hand back.

"Yeah," he sighed. Gran smiled as she walked off.

"Katara?" Aang asked taking a deep breath.

"Yeah?" Katara replied taking one last glance at the picture and setting it down.

"Well, you know this homecoming dance?" Aang asked.

"Yeah?" Katara smiled.

"Well, you don't have a date do you?" Aang asked her.

"No…" Katara waited for him to ask.

"Oh, well then maybe, you know since we're friends, we could go? Maybe? I mean if not…" Aang asked uncertainly.

"Oh, Aang, I'd love to go with you." Katara threw her arms around him. Aang looked shocked at first and then he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back.

"Movies over!" Sokka announced coming up the stairs. Toph came up looking traumatized. "We're we interrupting something?" Sokka asked seeing the two in a tight embrace.

"Uh, nothing." Aang quickly let go.

"Aang asked me to Homecoming!" Katara announced. Sokka winked at Aang, giving him the thumbs up. Toph seemed to come out of her trance.

"Well, congratulations to the couple who started the evening out in THE CLOSET!" Toph rolled her eyes and they both blushed.

"Its called 'Spin the Bottle'." Katara rolled her eyes.

"Well, I better get Aang back." Sokka picked his keys up.

"And I better get back before my Dad checks in on me." Toph grabbed her jacket and headed out the door back to her house next door.

"Bye, Toph!" they waved.

"Let's go, Aang…and pray I don't fall off that cliff of a house you have." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Okay, bye Aang." Katara smiled.

"Talk to you this weekend, okay? I'll call you tomorrow, like always." Aang gave her an awkward hug.

"Like always." Katara repeated.


	4. Movie Date

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for all the reviews 29 reviews in three chapters, that's AMAZING! Okay to answer A Great And Terrible Beauty's question, they are _not_ benders, because no matter how much we wish there are no benders in the real world –sigh-. Okay, I'm done. So…in this I buried a few little tidbits from my life, which I'll throw in at the bottom not that anyone cares. But just so everyone gets to know me! -bats eyes with pretty colors in background- and I'm done. But a lot of times I like to throw in stuff about myself. So anyway…enjoy! Aang does the disclaimer!

**Aang: **Kat does not own us! No matter how much she wishes.

Ahem.

**0o0o0**

Later that night, Aang couldn't sleep at all. He was too excited about he and Katara. It was about twelve-thirty and he walked over to his computer and opened instant messenger to find Katara still online.

**Headintheclouds91 has signed on at 12:37 AM**

**Headintheclouds91: **Katara…u there?

**Waterprincessx3: **Aang? What are you doing on IM?

**Headintheclouds91: **can't sleep

**Waterprincessx3: **Why?

**Headintheclouds91: **bcuz im so excited bout u & me and that movie was pretty scary, lol. wat r u doing on?

**Waterprincessx3: **Yeah, I'm still freaked, at least I can be comforted by talking to you ;) I can't sleep either.

**Headintheclouds91: **yeah

**Headintheclouds91: **so does this mean like were going out?

**Waterprincessx3: **Well, not exactly, you're supposed to ask me at the dance, lol.

**Headintheclouds91: **o. ill have to remember that, so wat does 'going out' mean anyway?

**Waterprincessx3: **Most of my friends say holding hands while going to class, hanging out in free time...um, go to movies…idk stuff like that.

**Headintheclouds91: **we did that stuff when we were friends neway! does that mean we were going out then?

**Waterprincessx3: **Not really, we weren't really considered 'going out' we didn't really hold hands or kiss or anything. I don't know, but it certainly sounds just like our friendship doesn't it?

**Headintheclouds91:** or maybe our friendship was just like going out ;) lol.

**Waterprincessx3: **lol, could be. Sokka always tell me we acted like it anyway.

**Waterprincessx3: **So what are we doing before Homecoming?

**Headintheclouds91: **were supposed to do sumthing?

**Waterprincessx3:** Well we don't have to, but we could. We could do something like a dinner like we did Valentines Day because the dance doesn't start till 8.

**Headintheclouds91: **right, i liked that dinner. ;) u smelled so nice, like 'Strawberry fields forever!'

**Waterprincessx3: **lol, Aang, ur so weird.

**Headintheclouds91: **u dont like my beatles impersonation?

**Waterprincessx3: **it was beautiful, im tearing up right now -sniff sniff-.

**Headintheclouds91: **well i think i heard quite a few ppl are going down to that village inn.

**Waterprincessx3: **that's fine.

**Headintheclouds91: **their pie is SO good.

**Waterprincessx3: **lol

**Headintheclouds91:** srsly, have u had their pumkin pie? its so good.

**Waterprincessx3: **that pie is seasonal, aang.

**Headintheclouds91: **almost that season too:D i promise ill get us a big one for u & me to share okay?

**Waterprincessx3: **ill look forward to it :)

**Headintheclouds91: **so wat are you doing this weekend? Do u have a swim meet?

**Waterprincessx3: **nope, not this weekend.

**Headintheclouds91: **SWEET! U want to come over tomorrow?

**Waterprincessx3: **ill talk to gran bout it. I hope! ill call u tomorrow, sokka's getting real pissed at me for ticking away at the keyboard at this hour.

**Headintheclouds91: **right, well ill talk to you tomorrow.

**Waterprincessx3: **okay, tomorrow. Okay, Sokka's really annoyed g2g luv ya BYE!

**Waterprincessx3 has signed out at 1:03 AM**

**Headintheclouds91: **luv ya…

**Headintheclouds91: **bye…

**Headintheclouds91 has signed out at 1:03 AM**

**o0o**

Aang woke up with his cell phone buzzing on his side table. Appa, his big white shaggy dog with brown markings, was licking his face.

"Ha, ha, Appa, gerroff me! Katara is calling me!" Aang kicked him off.

He jumped up realizing how late it was. Hurriedly he flipped open his cell.

"Hello?" he asked, groggily.

"Hm, did I just wake you up? I thought you weren't the type to oversleep." Katara's voice came from the other line.

"Hey, 'Tara." Aang mumbled as he yawned.

"Morning, Aang!" Sokka shouted.

"Your on speaker phone by the way, I talked to Gran, she doesn't mind what we do today."

"Wet Willy!" Sokka shouted.

"Sokka! You're so annoying! Stop it! Sokka said he would drive us to the movies, or something. Just to get out of the house, I don't know." Katara told him.

"Okay, so long as it isn't another scary movie. You hear that Sokka?" Aang grinned.

"Yes, alright. But you know you enjoyed Katara hanging all over you." Sokka's voice came over the phone.

"Shut up, Sokka." Katara hissed. "There's a new romantic comedy we could go see," she suggested.

"Great, a chick flick. How do you put up with it Aang? How do you call yourself a man? How do you sleep at night? You two go do that. I'll go watch some other movie…but then I can't keep an eye on you two." Sokka debated with himself.

"We don't need a babysitter. Go see your scary movie." Katara told him.

"Fine, no making out or anything in the back of the theater though, okay?" Sokka told them.

"Of course not Sokka." Aang promised. "Why don't you take Suki to the movies with us?" he asked.

"I already called her, she's got martial arts practice or something today." Sokka told him.

"Oh," Aang sighed.

"We'll come pick you up around noon and we'll have some popcorn at the theater and grab a light lunch at the mall afterwards, okay?" Katara asked.

"Sounds great, see you at noon."

"See you then, bye!"

"Bye." Aang hung up. Quickly he threw on a T-shirt and his favorite pair of jeans and ran downstairs.

"Hey, Uncle Gyatso? I have plans with Katara and Sokka today! Do you think I could borrow some money? I'm a little short on cash." Aang asked. His uncle turned around as he was putting breakfast on plates.

"Sure, but first eat your breakfast." Uncle Gyatso told him.

"Alright! My favorite! Pancakes with chocolate syrup!" Aang dug in.

**o**

Once Aang had finished he fed his scraps to Appa and Uncle Gyatso gave him the money he needed and he stashed it in his wallet. Then he sat on the couch watching Saturday morning cartoons until noon when Katara and Sokka promised to pick him up. It was about five after when the doorbell rang and Aang jumped up and ran to get the door. Sokka was waiting in the car and Katara stood on the doorstep with a smile on her face. She was wearing an oriental themed shirt that flared out at the bottom with jeans on and a bun held together by chopsticks.

"Y-you l-l-look nice." Aang managed to stumble.

"Thanks." Katara smiled. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'll see you later, Uncle Gyatso!" Aang called.

"Have fun!" he called back. Aang jumped in the back seat and they headed off to the theater.

When they got there, Sokka bought his ticket and then when Aang and Katara came to the ticket booth Katara started to take out her money.

"Nope, from now on I buy. I'm taking you to this movie. I suppose that's what's different from going to the movie as friends and as a couple, is _I get to pay!_" Aang grinned as if he just won a game. Katara smirked as she crossed her arms.

"Okay, whatever you say." Katara smiled as Aang exchanged the money for the tickets. When they walked inside they waited for Sokka to buy his snacks (an extra large soda with about five different types of candy) and then Aang bought them their popcorn and a large cherry coke to share.

"Okay, we meet back here at about one-thirty or two? If our movie gets out any sooner or later we hang out at the arcade, until the others get out okay?" Sokka agreed.

"Right," Katara nodded. They split up into the different theaters.

**0o0o0**

**Random Tidbits: **

I love my pancakes with chocolate syrup on them, if you haven't tried it, you haven't lived.

I love Village Inn's pumpkin pies (well I love all pumpkin pies) but their's is the best.

So that's just some random stuff that I threw in about myself. If you were interested, lol.


	5. In The Arcade

Hello my peoples! I have another update for you guys :)!! But before you do read it…thank you for all the loverly reviews! I'm really sorry there's no benders in this it's just sorta how I wrote it. So…my brother and me often fanaticize about if we were benders. I said I'd be an Airbender and my brother would be an Earthbender if we couldn't be the Avatar and bend all the elements. Just a lil poll, just wondering what would you guys want to be if you were benders? Anyway, but here's the update! Katara, take it away!

**Katara:** Kat does not own any of us, DDR or Britney Spears.

**Aang: **0.o

**Katara: **Oh, just read.

**o0o**

"Alright! First ones here!" Aang shouted as they got into the theater. He ran up to the middle section and got right in the middle. "This okay?"

"Perfect." Katara nodded as they got settled.

"Hey," Aang looked around. "I'll race you up and down the stairs, like we did in the third grade when your Gran and Uncle Gyatso took us to go see that horse movie!" Aang told her.

"Aang…" Katara rolled her eyes.

"No ones here yet. Please?" Aang begged her.

"Oh, yeah, for my first date he took me to a movie and we raced up and down the theater aisles." Katara mocked herself telling this story.

"This is considered our first date?" Aang asked abruptly.

"Sure," Katara shrugged, popping some popcorn in her mouth.

"Please, before anyone else comes?" Aang pleaded.

"Oh, alright. One round." Katara agreed and took off down the stairs.

"Ready? Set. Go!" Aang shouted. They both darted up the stairs but Katara's long slender strong legs from swimming got her there first.

"Oh, who's good?" she bragged.

"Fine," Aang crossed his arms. "Ready for your prize? Close your eyes it's a surprise!" Aang grinned. Katara put her hands on her hips and closed her eyes. Aang kissed her lightly on the lips.

"I like that game. You want to do it again?" Katara asked, opening her eyes to meet his. But people started to come in and so they decided to return to their seats.

"But I thought Valentines Day last year was our first date." Aang continued their conversation from earlier.

"Well, I guess. I don't know that was more as friends." Katara considered.

"Not the way you thought of it." Aang raised his eyebrows and laughed to himself.

"How did I think of it?" Katara asked.

"About how you went on about the chocolates and playing footsie and the first kiss and me smelling your hair and you practically sitting on my lap and how you felt my breath against your cheek when your dropped your napkin…and…and…" Aang froze.

"Wait. I never _told _you any of those things! I wrote those things in my diary!" Katara hissed.

"Really? I could have sworn you telling me about this." Aang squirmed tried to recover.

"You read my diary, didn't you?" Katara eyed him.

"Only the Valentines Day entry and the one where you found out about Homecoming!" Aang confessed. "Sokka made me do it! It's the only way he could get me to ask you though, I would have never have had enough courage to ask you!" he cowered.

"I should thank him sometime." Katara went from angry to sweet in an instant.

"Phew!" Aang sighed. The previews started as they munched on their popcorn. However, they both went in for their straws at the same time and their heads bumped.

"Sorry, go ahead." Aang apologized, blushing.

"Here, I'm going to go ahead and get comfortable while the previews are going." Katara whispered. At least there weren't as many people around them. Aang nodded as he took the popcorn from her, she always took her shoes off and sat with her feet on the seat. It was apart of their 'movie routine'. "Here, hold this." Katara handed him the drink.

"Why?" he whispered.

"I'm going to put this hand rest up. Put it in your hand rest. I'll ask for the drink when I need it." Katara told him.

"You can put the hand rests up?" Aang asked.

"You never knew that?" Katara laughed quietly. She put the popcorn in between them and leaned against Aang whose arm fell naturally around her shoulder.

"_That's_ why you wanted that up." Aang raised his eyebrows with a sneaky grin. He could imagine Sokka's reaction.

"If it's okay with you." Katara hurriedly added. "I mean if it's too awkward for our first date and…"

"Of course." Aang grinned, returning his gaze to the screen.

**o0o**

An hour and a half later Aang and Katara walked out of the theater with Aang's arm still around Katara, because his arm was stuck in that position. He quickly unstuck it though, blushing as he threw the popcorn and drink away.

"So, um, are we gonna go look for Sokka?" Aang asked.

"Yeah," Katara agreed as they headed towards the main part of the movie theaters. They didn't see him so they decided to go look around the arcade.

"Ooh! Air Hockey!" Aang exclaimed. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward the empty table and he pulled out three quarters from his pocket. "A game a good at!" Aang shouted putting them in the coin slot. The table turned on and Katara put her purse between her legs as she prepared herself for the game. Soon, Aang had Katara beat.

"So…do I get a prize?" Aang asked.

"Of course," Katara pecked him on the cheek. "Now we get to do a game of my choice. And this time, I pay." Katara laughed. She led Aang over to a Dance Dance Revolution game.

"Oh, no. I'm so bad at these. You'll win for sure." Aang told her as he stepped up onto the platform. Katara smirked as she put her money in. She chose the song and difficulty.

"Ready?" Katara asked as the song started. Aang desperately tried to keep up as Katara went through with ease adding her own moves in as well. Afterward, Katara grinned as Aang caught his breath.

"Argh! You're too good." Aang groaned.

"That's cause I practice at home on Sokka's Playstation." Katara told him picking up her purse.

"Really? They have those for at home?" Aang asked.

"Well, yeah. Except they're fold out mats." Katara told him.

"Oh! Close your eyes." Aang told her, running off towards another machine. He put in fifty cents and with much mastered skill he brought a small stuffed animal out of it. "Open." Aang presented his present.

"Oh, Aang! It's adorable!" Katara threw her arms around him. "Thank you!" she took the animal from him.

"Sure," Aang smiled. Sokka walked in finishing his extra large pop, then throwing it away.

"Look, Sokka! Aang got me this! Did you know he could do those claw things?" Katara asked.

"Nope, no idea. Enjoy you're movie? Or too busy kissing to enjoy it?" Sokka asked.

"We enjoyed it! I could give you a full synopsis." Katara argued.

"Okay, then I don't have to worry. Just _don't_ give me that synopsis, okay?" Sokka asked.

"Well, maybe we kissed once…" Aang admitted, blushing. He knew Sokka would find out eventually.

"Or twice…" Katara grinned.

"Or…um…the whole movie." Aang laughed as Sokka stared at them.

"You WHAT?" Sokka demanded.

"We're just kidding." Aang told him.

"Or are we?" Katara asked. They both laughed as Sokka sat dumbfounded and bewildered trying to figure out if they really were kissing through the whole thing or not.

"You two! Quit playing mind games with me! Name one of the characters!" Sokka quizzed them.

"Isabella." Katara answered.

"Jake." Aang gave another name. Sokka eyed them.

"Okay." Sokka rolled his eyes. "Hungry now? I am, let's go to the mall." Sokka told them.

"Okay," they agreed. However, Sokka didn't see Katara stuff down the movie overview she had printed off the Internet.

As they got to the car Katara crawled in the back with Aang.

"What do I smell that bad?" Sokka adjusted his mirrors and clicked his seatbelt.

"It's safer in the back." Katara protested.

"And I'm Britney Spears. C'mon, Katara. You've called shotgun ever since I got this piece of shit." Sokka started the car.

"Sokka!" Katara shouted. "Aang," Katara warned through her teeth.

"Grow up, Katara. Aang's a big boy, he's heard it all before." Sokka told his sister.

"Okay, well maybe I just want to sit with Aang." Katara defended and Aang clasped his hand in hers as he looked out the window. Katara smiled over at him and he blushed as he reached over and kissed her on the cheek as Sokka was pulling out of the parking lot.

"Hey, you two." Sokka said in a warning tone looking back one of his mirrors at them.

"Sokka, pay attention to the road. You'll have an accident." Katara scolded.


	6. At The Mall

Howdy! Thank you so much for all the reviews everyone, I appreciate it all so much! If I could give you all a million dollars I would, but I can't sorry, lol. It was very interesting to hear what everyone would be if they were a bender. Lauren…I shoulda put that in there…Aang got Katara a snow leopard sort of like the pets in the South Pole on the actual show except _normal_ versions of those lol ;). MyOtherName, amen! Lol, I beat my brother all the time ;), lolol but the only version of DDR I've ever played is the cheapy vinyl foldout mats at home and I haven't gotten it out in a while :(, so I don't know any of the songs, sadly.

Okay, so I'll be trying to post a bunch, a lot cause I'm gonna _try _(try being the key word) to get a holiday update by the holidays. So just to let you guys know if any of you read my other stories and wonder why I'm updating this one the most and kinda ignoring the others that's why. So yeah! Okay, onward with the update! Zuko, do the disclaimer!

**Zuko: **Kat does not own us, McDonalds, Big Macs, Subway, Blizzards or any other brand names mentioned in here.

Good job, Zuko. –feeds Fire Flakes-

**Zuko: **You don't own those either.

**0o0o0**

Within another five minutes they were at the mall and they made their way to the food court. Sokka went to McDonalds and Katara and Aang got Subway and they all sat down.

"Oh, sweet Big Mac!" Sokka grinned stupidly, taking a big sloppy bite.

"Yeah, and someday you'll be five hundred pounds." Aang rolled his eyes.

"What about you mister six-inch, two cookies, soda pop _and_ chips?" Sokka retorted.

"Really, Aang is underweight for his age group. And actually, Aang and I are sharing the _baked healthy_ chips, cookies and _diet_ coke." Katara clarified.

"Well…yeah? Man, since you two have been going out you share everything. I mean I thought it was bad when you two were just best friends." Sokka rolled his eyes his mouth full of Big Mac.

"We've been going out since last night." Aang told him.

"Technically, we aren't going out _yet_. Right, Aang?" Katara asked.

"Ohhh, right." Aang rolled his eyes, with a little laugh taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Whatever." Sokka sighed. "He asked you to the freaking dance. You guys are going out. Girls and their stupid dating rules."

They finished up their lunch and threw their trash away.

"So…now what?" Aang asked.

"Well, do would you guys mind if we looked around a bit?" Katara asked.

"Not at all!" Aang smiled. Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Great, a shopping spree," he sighed as they started to walk off. Katara took the lead looking in all the windows. First she took them into a Bath and Body shop. Sokka started to cough.

"To—over—powering—can't—breathe!" he gasped.

"Go play on the kiddie area, why don't you?" Katara rolled her eyes.

"Why don't I go look at the video game store and I'll meet you down there in an hour and a half?" Sokka asked.

"Have fun." Katara agreed. She walked around trying all the samples and Aang would smell them and laugh, as he would give her his opinion. Soon they grew bored and they started to look around some more. They looked through some department stores just looking to kill time. Even though Aang loathed shopping, he loved wasting his time with Katara.

"Oh, hey. I want to go look at dresses for Homecoming! I want you to give me your opinion. You should get a nice collared shirt that's the same color." Katara suggested.

"What, so were gonna be all matchy-matchy?" Aang asked.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Katara grinned.

"Whatever." Aang rolled his eyes. Katara dragged him into the nearest shop that was displaying Homecoming dresses. Katara started to shuffle through the racks, pausing and taking dresses off then putting them back. She found a few she liked that were in her size.

"Let me go try these on!" Katara grinned pulling him towards the dressing rooms. She hurried into an empty one as Aang waited outside. He started to hum to the music playing over the speakers and Katara came out in a light green knee length dress. It had a darker sash tying under the bust with a flower attached to it.

"Dress number one." Katara did a little spin. Aang looked up from where he was studying his shoes.

"It looks nice…" Aang stroked his chin. "But it just isn't you."

"Okay," Katara walked back into the dressing room. She came back out with a dark red dress spaghetti strap dress, with some rhinestone work at the bottom.

"Dress number two." Katara twirled around doing a hand motion. Aang laughed.

"It's pretty…but…I want to see the other dresses." Aang told her.

"Alright." Katara nodded. Next she came out in a strapless light blue dress with different toned blues swirled in the fabric and it flared out on the bottom with a thick dark blue sash.

"What about dress number three?" Katara did a turn.

"Ooh, that one's beautiful. It complements your eyes. I like that one so far." Aang complemented her.

"Alright, this one was my favorite, too." Katara smiled as she turned into the dressing room. "One more!" she exclaimed.

"Okay," Aang agreed. She came out in a black dress with pink polka dots and there was a small pink bow on the back of the dress.

"Yeah, definitely the blue one." Aang told her.

"Okay." Katara went to change back into her normal clothes. She hung up the other three dresses and she studied it again. "Yeah I like this one," she decided.

"Anything else?" Aang asked.

"Well, yeah. I could go browse through underwear and thongs while you could help me pick some out." Katara smirked. Aang's eyes grew wide and his face turned a bright crimson.

"U-uh, umm…erm, well…I meant shoes o-or jewelry or something." Aang told her nervously, he could feel his full face burning and he could feel the blush going down his neck.

"Nah, I have some at home. But I'll leave that other offer for later though." Katara went to go pay. Aang continued to stumble stupidly.

"Are you coming or not?" Katara waved.

"Uh, yeah!" Aang ran to catch up with her. "What now?" Aang asked, still slightly embarrassed.

"We can go look in one of these department stores, for a nice shirt for you." Katara suggested.

"Okay, sure. You'll have to help, I have no fashion sense." Aang told her.

"You don't have to; just a plain collared shirt will work. C'mon." Katara dragged him to the nearest department store. They found the department and Katara started to look through the racks as Aang leaned, bored against other rack.

"What about this one? Or this one?" Katara held up a few choices.

"They're nice, you're the one who would know which one would be the best." Aang told her.

"Well yeah, but you're the one who's gonna be wearing it." Katara returned to looking through the racks. "Here, try these on." Katara told him. Aang took them and walked into the dressing room. He tried on at least five shirts with different patterns on them, but they decided on the last one that was just one solid blue color. They went to go pay, and Katara stopped Aang.

"Clothes, I'm paying. Besides, it's 50 off and I babysat last weekend. And you paid for the movie…you paid for _everything _today." Katara told him.

"What are you my mother now? You have to pick out my clothes and buy them for me?" Aang teased. "I don't want you to spend your babysitting money on me." Aang told her.

"No, I don't mind." Katara told him.

"If you're sure…but if your buying me this, I get to buy you a Blizzard!" Aang told her. Katara grinned at him.

"Why thank you." Katara smiled as she took the bag. "Here," she handed it to Aang. They made their way back to the food court and walked over to the DQ.

"Okay, do you want to share one?" Aang asked.

"Sure," Katara agreed.

"Whaddya want?" Aang asked again taking out his wallet.

"Hmm…I usually have either the Butterfingers or the cookie dough one. Whatever you want." Katara told him.

"Okay." Aang nodded. "One medium cookie dough Blizzard, please." Aang ordered. They waited and then got their order. Both of them took a spoon and dug in. Katara checked her watch.

"We should get back to Sokka." Katara told him.

"M'kay," Aang agreed, his mouth full of Blizzard and he swallowed. "Which way?"

"This way," Katara led. They entered the gaming store to find Sokka playing against someone familiar.

"Why hello, Zuko." Katara sneered.

"Hello, bitch." Zuko shot back as he kept his eyes glued to the screen.

"Don't talk to my sister like that!" Sokka shouted, but he didn't bother to do anything…but continue to play.

"I can do whatever I want." Zuko told him.

"Just because you're a senior this year, you think you're above it all. Dammit you're beating me. DAMMIT! I just died!" Sokka shouted.

"Sokka! There are little kids here!" Katara hissed. "Now move over." Katara told him sticking her spoon back in the Blizzard and handing it back to Aang.

"What you think you can beat me?" Zuko laughed.

"Bring it." Katara took a hold of the controller.

"Katara, you can't take him! You never play video games!" Sokka told her.

"Watch me." Katara told him. Within ten minutes she had him beat.

"Damn, when did you get good at video games?" Zuko asked. Katara just crossed her arms and picked up her bags and took a bite of her Blizzard.

"I see you went to go get your dress for Homecoming." Zuko observed. "Mai and my sister and what's her face other friend dragged me along to get theirs and Mai was going to get me some matching shirt or something." Zuko told them.

"That's what Aang and I just got back from shopping for." Katara told him. They walked out of the store and sat on some long benches in the middle of the mall.

"He asked you to Homecoming then?" Zuko asked.

"When do you care?" Katara asked.

"Sokka was telling me about how chicken he was in gym Friday morning." Zuko told them.

"I am not chicken!" Aang stuck up for himself.

"Yeah, you were!" Sokka argued.

"Whose side are you on?" Aang hissed.

"Anyway…damn did you guys get something _else _to share?" Sokka asked.

"Do you have a problem with that? We're just very thrifty." Katara told him.

"Thrifty. Who uses that word anymore?" Zuko laughed.

"There you are, Zuzu." Azula approached them piling her shopping bags on Zuko.

"Here ya go, Zuko!" Ty Lee threw her bags on top of Azula's.

"Hey, Mai. Go ahead and throw yours on while everyone's at it. Yours too, Katara. Let's see how many bags we can throw on Zuko, the pack mule." Zuko rolled his eyes. Mai threw hers on top and snickered.

"I got me a black dress and you a black top with a red silk tie and…" Mai told him.

"Ugh, I have to wear a tie?" Zuko groaned.

"You ought to look nice, and it goes very well with the black shirt." Mai smirked.

"At least I got away without a tie." Aang mumbled to Zuko.

"You lucky little scrawny freshman, I ought to—GOD THIS IS HEAVY, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU GET? DRESSES MADE OUT OF LEAD?" Zuko groaned under the weight of the bags.

"Well, I got a red dress that—"

"I don't care, okay?" Zuko told his sister. "Let's just go, before I die under this weight." Zuko rolled his eyes.

"See you guys." Zuko walked off with the three other girls.

"Bye," they all waved.

"Okay, so now what?" Sokka asked. Katara looked at her watch.

"We could go home and hang out for a bit, I'm kinda tired." Katara told them.

"Okay," Sokka nodded as they headed out to the parking lot to find the car.

**0o0o0**

Yes, Zuko and the girls (that should be a singing group, LOL) made their debut. To answer any questions, Zuko isn't really their 'friend' friend but like they talk to him at school, get it? Just a classmate to talk to, cause I didn't want to make him evil. Kinda confusing. Next to clear things up, Zuko is a senior because in the show Zuko is a year older than Sokka. Assuming Katara is a sophomore, Sokka would be a junior so Zuko would be a senior. Also, Azula would be a sophomore because according to Wiki she's the same age as Katara and Mai and Ty Lee are juniors cause they're a year older than Azula. PHEW! Okay, onto the subject of dates. Zuko is going with Mai (I had to put Maiko in there ;)) and Azula is not going dateless no matter what you think :P. CRACK PAIRING ALERT! Azula is going with Jet XD and Ty Lee is going with Haru XD. And Jet would be a senior cause on Wiki it said he was around Zuko's age and since Haru's age is unknown I'm going to guess he's a junior. Anyway, there's that info for ya.


	7. A Very Interesting Night

WARNING: SUPER LONG POST AHEAD. Yes you heard. Make yourself a nice cup of tea or cocoa or go crack open the eggnog as you read this update! I'm trying to get as much posted as possible. Here's my schedule I'm hoping to go by, next update should be Homecoming dance FINALLY. The update after that should be some filler fluff stuff and then after that will be CHRISTMAS update, which I'm already working on and it's VERY fun to write ;P.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who reviewed! A Great And Terrible Beauty, I've seen many a-fanart with a modern Aang as him being bald and seeing as a kid wouldn't have tattoos he has like a beanie with an arrow on it. I believe there's Avatar merchandise like that, lol! Libowiekitty, I'm honored that this is you and your friends favorite fic! MyOtherName, I was actually considering something along those lines but it just doesn't seem Aang and I wanted to keep them IC as possible. But yes that would be a major LOL! Kumori Doragon, thank you! I'm glad I hit that nail on the head…seeing as I've never had a date in my life unless you count going over to a boys house in kindergarten. Yes, I'm from some other planet. My friends and family want to send me to a psychiatrist. But I could have just known that from watching all this teen crap on TV now. But it's good teen crap XD. Sokka's turn to do the disclaimer.

**Sokka: **Yes! You know this disclaimer is a lot more fun to do now, more fun than any of your other fan fictions.

Really?

**Sokka: **Yeah, cause we have more stuff to say.

Okay, just do the disclaimer.

**Sokka: **Okay, Kat does not own us, The Sims 2, poptarts, Wester's dictionary or any of the TV shows or movies mentioned. You're pretty proud of yourself that you managed to fit Harry Potter in here aren't you?

Yes! I can squish both of my fandoms together if I want! Now shush and let the nice people read. We've already wrote WAY to long of an Authors Note it's a PAGE long in word.

**Sokka: **What's this WE stuff? You wrote all of this stuff –points up-

Okay, well you ain't helping. So SHUT UP!

**Sokka: **Okay.

**0o0o0**

When they arrived back home they dropped their bags and Katara led them into her room. Sokka threw himself on Katara's chair and put his feet up.

"Get your stinky feet away!" Katara pushed his sweaty feet to the floor. Aang sat on her bed and Katara leaned against the windowsill.

"So what now?" Sokka asked.

"We could…just visit, y'know?" Katara asked.

"So am I staying for dinner?" Aang asked.

"I suppose. I don't know how long you want to stay." Katara told him.

"Hey, Aang. You could spend the night and we could play my Playstation or something! Or…you'd probably spend all night with Katara." Sokka gagged.

"No, that's a good idea! We can all hang out," Aang agreed. "I promise I won't be all mushy with Katara. Really, I promise. Let me call my Uncle." Aang told them.

"Okay," Sokka rolled his eyes, "I'll go ask Gran."

Aang took out his cell phone and dialed his house. His uncle picked up and asked if he could spend the night over at Sokka's. Gyatso agreed and he grinned as he hung up.

"Yeah, I can stay…though I don't have any fresh clothes." Aang smiled.

"Good, well you can just sleep in what you have or borrow some of Sokka's clothes to sleep in and wear those clothes home tomorrow. You really should just keep some clothes here, you spend the night so much." Katara smiled back.

"Yeah, heh, heh." Aang laughed nervously. It sounded like Katara was basically asking him to move in.

Sokka came back in.

"Gran didn't mind, as long as you don't mind having order in for dinner." Sokka laughed.

"No, I don't mind a bit." Aang smiled lopsidedly.

"So…now what? You want to play now?" Sokka asked.

"Or we could just visit." Katara shrugged.

"That's what _girls_ do. They sit around and gossip about boys. Well, we're men and we aren't talking about makeup." Sokka stood up.

"Well, let's find something we can all do!" Aang told them.

"The problem-solver," Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Do you have a game you like to play, Katara?" Aang asked.

"Well, usually I only play The Sims 2 on my computer…but that's not really fun…" she trailed off.

"Oh, are you kidding? Its lots of fun!" Sokka got a mischievous look in his eye.

"Okay, let's do that then." Aang agreed.

"No, really that's okay." Katara argued.

"Well, if it's something we can all do Katara…" Aang told her. Katara glanced nervously as Sokka opened the program. He clicked on one of the neighborhoods and opened a house, Katara bracing herself.

"Gee, this looks familiar. Who lives in this house? Aang and Katara? With their—" Sokka gasped, "One, two, three, children? With another one on the way?" Sokka laughed. Aang who wasn't paying attention snapped his eyes to the screen looking around.

"Hey! There's Katara and me! Aw! Look! We have two girls and a little boy!" Aang laughed. Katara's face was burning as she buried herself under the pillows.

"Sokka! You've ruined my life!" she shrieked.

"Don't worry Aang, she made me and Yue have four kids and three of them were sent to military school." Sokka sighed. Aang turned his attention away from the screen.

"Katara, I don't think that's stupid. You shouldn't be embarrassed! I think it's—it's I dunno. Cute, maybe?" Aang tried to think of the words.

"Just turn up the mush why don't you?" Sokka groaned.

"You're the one who decided to show me this!" Aang hissed. Katara sat up.

"Really?" she asked.

"Well, yeah. If I had that game I probably would have done the same…but seeing as I'm broke I can't buy any of these games…" Aang trailed off. Katara smiled giving him a hug.

"Gahhhhhh…" Sokka rolled his eyes spinning on Katara's office chair. "Boredddd to deathhhhh…" he kept spinning. "With my sisterrr and best friendddd being mushyyyy and gushyyyyy. God, I'm nauseous!" Sokka stopped putting a hand to his mouth. Aang and Katara stopped hugging and Katara yelled at Sokka to go to the bathroom to throw up. "No, I'm fine…" Sokka told her, but then ran off to the bathroom and Katara looked at Aang who shrugged.

"That's what you get for spinning on my chair!" Katara called, straddling her chair. They heard a flush and Sokka returned wiping his mouth and saw Katara now spinning in the chair and ran to the bathroom again as Aang started to laugh.

"No! I'm good." Sokka collapsed against the doorframe. "Let's do something non-spiny, okay?" Sokka asked, still looking pale.

"Okay," Katara stopped spinning. "Well, Gran should be ordering pizza soon. And then we can get in the hot tub." Katara suggested.

"You guys got your hot tub?" Aang asked.

"We got it last weekend." Sokka jumped on Katara's bed.

"I don't have my trunks." Aang told them.

"Borrow some of Sokka's." Katara suggested.

"Will they fit?" Aang asked.

"Are you calling me fat?" Sokka sat up.

"No," Aang laughed.

"Then yes. They have drawstrings on them." Sokka fell back on the bed again.

"Keep your lunch in." Katara told him.

"I already spit it up, what are you talking about?" Sokka asked.

"TMI!" Katara exclaimed and Aang looked at her. "Too much information." Katara explained.

"Right," Aang nodded.

"Gosh, Aang! I can't believe you didn't know that!" Sokka threw a pillow at his head.

"Hey! My pillow!" Katara exclaimed. Sokka threw a ragged teddy bear at Aang. "Stop throwing my Foofoocuddlypoops! You know how many times Gran has had to repair him?" Katara demanded.

"Hey, I recognize that…didn't I give you that?" Aang asked.

"Yeah, when you were in the first grade and it was my birthday or something. Sokka helped name it and it kinda stuck." Katara hugged the stuffed animal.

"You still have that? Dang, Katara. You kept all the dumb gifts I gave you?" Aang asked.

"They weren't dumb!" Katara exclaimed going to her closet.

"Watch, it gets good. She has like a shrine devoted to you." Sokka whispered to him.

"It is _not _a shrine! I do _not_ worship him!" Katara yelled showing him a shelf on her shelves in the closet.

"See? There's the sculpture you made in art class and gave to me in the fourth grade…and the candle you bought two years ago…lavender…I love it…anyway…look the lily from our date on Valentine's Day last year…Gran showed me this thing where you can turn real flowers fake so I can enjoy it forever. Look! Here's our picture at Chuck E. Cheese in the second grade! Aww…we were so small! You're…attempt to sew me…something…" Katara looked through.

"It was supposed to be embroidered something…I can't remember now." Aang scratched his head. Katara laughed as she shifted through.

"Anyway…oh! I can add this today." Katara said finding the stuffed animal Aang had pulled from the claw machine.

"Then of course…the locket you gave to me in the third grade." Katara pulled from under her shirt. "I wear it everyday and look…" she opened it and caught the key to her diary. She showed the picture of them at the beach last summer. It was the two of them and Katara was placing a large kiss on his cheek and he looked shocked. He remembered Sokka and Katara had planned it. Sokka told Katara and Aang to get together and Katara grabbed a smooch and Sokka took a picture. Aang laughed as he trapped Katara's fingers looking at the picture. He silently shut it and looked up and found their faces extremely close. Slowly he reached forward and kissed her gently.

"EURGH! GRAN! AANG AND KATARA ARE KISSING!" Sokka ran out of the room.

"I'm sorry about Sokka." Katara apologized through their kiss.

"It's okay." Aang continued it.

"Sokka! You leave your sister and Aang alone!" Gran yelled up at Sokka.

"But they're being mushy! And-and boyfriend and girlfriendy! This was me and Aang's sleepover!" Sokka shouted. Katara laughed as their lips slid away from each other.

"I'm sorry, you and Sokka really should be hanging out." Katara smiled. Aang grinned sheepishly as he covered her hands with his own.

"Yeah, probably." Aang sighed. "SORRY, SOKKA! We're done!" Aang called running down the stairs.

"Yeah, you better be." Sokka crossed his arms. "Look, Gran said pizza's here in ten minutes. So…what are we doin' till then? And you two are _not _kissing."

"We never said we were!" Katara defended. "C'mon we can go play DDR!" she suggested.

"Aw, Katara! You already kicked my butt today! Do you have to do it again?" Aang groaned.

"Quit complaining." Sokka flicked Aang's head.

"Sokka!" Katara shouted.

"Let's just go play until pizza gets here." Sokka grumbled. They went upstairs and started to play for a bit (the person sitting out playing the winner) until the pizza arrived. They all grabbed the two boxes of pizza for them (for Aang and Katara, the vegetarian pizza and for Sokka the meat lovers) and ran downstairs where Sokka flipped on the TV. A football game was on.

"Sokka, please. I don't want to watch football." Katara begged opening her and Aang's pizza.

"Fine," he turned the channel and Spongebob was on.

"Okay, not much better." Katara rolled her eyes. Sokka turned the channel again.

"Phil of the Future? Okay, whatever. Your so immature watching these kids channels!" Katara rolled her eyes.

"Hey! You like some of these shows!" Sokka exclaimed. They ate their pizza and finished watching their show, then cleaned up and put any leftover pizza in the fridge.

"Okay, so are we gonna go get in the hot tub?" Katara asked.

"Uh, yeah. I have to borrow Sokka's trunks remember?" Aang asked.

"Right," Sokka agreed heading upstairs towards his room. Aang and Katara followed him upstairs, Katara parting into her room to find her bathing suit. Sokka started digging through his dresser before finding a pair of blue trunks with a wave pattern on them.

"Here, these were getting small on me, they might fit you." Sokka tossed the trunks at him.

"Thanks," Aang walked out of the room and towards the bathroom to put them on. He shut the door and stripped of all his clothing and pulled the swimming trunks on tightened the drawstrings around his thin waist. Then he opened the door to find Katara scrounging around in the closet to find towels. She was wearing a blue bikini with a hibiscus pattern on it.

"Here," she smiled tossing him a towel. It landed lamely at his feet although he could have easily caught it. He was staring at Katara, his mouth slightly agape. "You okay?" Katara asked.

"Hey!" Sokka came out of his room. He grabbed Aang's face and put shut his mouth. "Stop staring at my sister in her bathing suit!"

"Aang, you've seen me in a bathing suit before." Katara giggled.

"N-not this one. O-o-only the full piece ones you wear at swim meets." Aang stuttered. Katara giggled some more.

"What about the one when we went to the beach last summer?"

"He stared at you then. He's always going to stare at you okay, Katara? Now, you two stop flirting and lets go." Sokka told them heading downstairs. He opened the deck door and stepped out into the cool fall night. Sokka threw the hot tub cover off and checked the chemicals and the temperature. He threw his towel on the one of the deck chairs and swung his legs over the side and Aang and Katara followed suit. It took awhile for Aang to get accustomed to the temperature, but eventually he settled down next to Katara. She smiled as she rested her head on his shoulder. Sokka splashed them.

"Sokka!" Katara exclaimed standing up and splashing him with a huge wave as they started a three-way water fight, Aang and Katara ganging up on Sokka. Half of the water sloshed out of the hot tub and at last they all sat down laughing. Katara suddenly stopped.

"Oh, my God," she hissed. "Shit, I lost my top."

"Jesus Christ, Katara! How the hell do you loose your bikini top?" Sokka demanded.

"I think the clasp broke and it just fell off while we were playing." Katara was frantically searching the bottom.

"Aang, did you see anything?" Sokka asked. Aang shook his head innocently. "Good, stay away from Katara." Sokka shot at him. Aang silently moved to the opposite side of the hot tub, not daring to disobey Sokka's orders. They continued to search for the missing top.

"Found it!" Aang held it up. Sokka snatched it and gave it to Katara.

"And that's the _only _time I want to see you with Katara's bikini top!" Sokka hissed.

"Damn it, the clasp _is_ broken." Katara sighed throwing the broken bikini top to the side and sank back in the water.

"So you're just gonna sit here naked?" Sokka asked.

"I'm not completely naked!" Katara argued as she moved towards Aang, making sure she kept her chest under the dark water. "Hey! You keep away from him! You go get a new a swimming suit if you want to sit by him." Sokka told her. Katara rolled her eyes and bent over the side of the hot tub as Aang diverted his eyes. He was lucky it was dark. He hadn't blushed this hard, ever.

"Nice view of your partially covered ass." Sokka splashed water towards Katara's backside. Katara quickly flipped back with her top and splashed him back. She put the top back on and tied the two loose ends.

"There happy?" Katara asked moving towards Aang again.

"Fine." Sokka rolled his eyes. Katara beckoned Aang closer and he leaned down as Katara cupped her hands.

"You know, you can't really tie this bikini top. I don't really have my it on." Katara whispered, giggling and Aang stared at her wide-eyed, desperately trying not to look down.

"So, Sokka…how's things going with you and Suki?" Aang quickly changed the topic.

"So are we gonna stay up all night and watch movies?" Sokka asked.

"Sure. NO SCARY MOVIES THOUGH!" Katara shouted.

"Lord of the Rings?" Sokka asked.

"Eh, that gets gory and kinda scary at some parts. Maybe during the day some other time." Katara shrugged.

"Harry Potter?" Sokka suggested.

"Hm, yeah that's okay. They can be dark and scary but better than Lord of the Rings." Katara shrugged jumping on the couch. Sokka opened the first one.

"Well, the first one isn't bad, they all just look like five year olds running around a castle." Sokka shrugged. Katara leaned against Aang as Sokka started the movie and sat down. Within ten minutes he was asleep.

"Sokka?" Katara asked, noticing he was fast asleep. She prodded him with her feet. "He's asleep." Katara giggled.

"Well, that means I can…" Aang pulled her into a warm kiss.

"Mm-hmmm." Katara groaned in agreement.

"AHA! I CAUGHT YOU TWO!" Sokka jumped up.

"What are you talking about Sokka?" Katara asked.

"You two were kissing! None of that!" Sokka yelled.

"Pfft. What? You must have been dreaming." Katara giggled.

"I PRETENDED TO BE ASLEEP YOU MORON!" Sokka roared.

"Just do us all a favor and go back to sleep." Katara rolled her eyes.

"I never was asleep!"

"Just watch the movie." Katara hissed through her teeth.

Aang slowly awoke to the menu on the DVD player playing over and over. Katara's head was resting in his lap as she slept peacefully. Sokka was stretched out in a sitting position snoring with a bit of drool coming out of his mouth. Aang chuckled quietly as he shifted a bit. Katara woke up as she looked around and smiled when her eyes landed on Aang.

"Morning," he stretched.

"Good morning." Katara grinned. She sat up and turned the TV off which startled Sokka.

"Flying pink monkeys!" Sokka snorted as he woke. Aang and Katara started to laugh. "Whoa, I was having this dream where—"

"We don't want to know Sokka." Katara told him.

"Whatever." Sokka rolled his eyes. "Let's go get breakfast."

They went upstairs and got a healthy breakfast of double fudge poptarts and milk.

"Good morning, did you all sleep well?" Gran came down the stairs from her room in her morning robe.

"Yes!" they all told her.

"I came to check in at midnight and you were all out. You don't have cricks in your necks?" Gran chuckled.

"Nope," they grinned.

"Alright, Aang you should find out when your Uncle wants you home." Gran told him.

"Okay." Aang nodded. He called his uncle and Gyatso told him by noon. He finished up his poptart and glanced at the clock. 11:00.

"I have to be home by noon." Aang told Katara and Sokka.

"Hey! While we're waiting let's call Toph." Sokka took out his cell.

"What about her Dad?" Katara asked.

"She's got her phone on vibrate and she stays in her room locked up most of the weekend." Sokka told her.

"I don't know how she lives." Katara sighed as Sokka found Toph's number. He put it on speaker as they heard it start to ring.

"Hello?" Toph picked up.

"Hey, Toph. It's Sokka, Katara and Aang. What's up?" Sokka asked.

"You know, just having the time of my life. Up here…in my bedroom…thank God you called. I was about to kill myself." Toph told them.

"Don't kill yourself!" Aang shouted.

"God, Twinkle Toes. Chill, it was a SARCASTIC REMARK! Meant to be witty. Do I have to look it up in the Webster's Dictionary for you?" Toph asked.

"No. AND STOP CALLING ME TWINKLE TOES! Just because I had to do a dance in the second grade play…" Aang growled. Toph giggled.

"You'll always be Twinkle Toes to me, Twinkle Toes." Toph told him. Aang groaned. "So what have you guys been doing?" Toph asked.

"Last night, Aang spent the night." Sokka told her.

"Damn my Dad! I want to come over!" Toph sighed.

"No you don't. Aang and Katara were being mushy all night." Sokka told her.

"Oh, really now?" Toph laughed.

"It's not funny. They were all kissing…and then when we got in the hot tub Katara lost her top. I'm starting to think it was on purpose." Sokka growled.

"Whoa there Katara, I didn't know you and Aang were getting so serious! It's not even Homecoming yet!" Toph laughed.

"God, you two!" Katara hissed. "It was not on purpose! I told you the clasp broke!"

"Conveniently, it happened when Aang was over too." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Anyway…" Katara sighed.

"Oh shit, Dad's coming. Talk to you guys tomorrow at school!" Toph hung up. They all sighed.

"Well, I should probably get home. Let's see…I don't have anything together." Aang laughed. Katara smiled.

"Okay, let's go then." Sokka stashed his cell in his pocket and put his shoes on. They both followed suit and Aang grabbed his jacket as they headed out the door.


	8. Homecoming At Last!

Okay, although this was kinda late today...Here's the update promised for today! The Homecoming post, finally! THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! I can't stress how much I LOVE reading your reviews. I couldn't do this without you guys! -huggles- Oh and sorry if the last chapter was a little choppy and it wasn't defined where it should have cut off and start and stuff. I'll probably go back and fix it later…

Libowiekitty, I have umm…I think two games on Sims 2 with Aang and Katara! And today I finally figured out how to get an arrow on Aang's head! If only I can get it to be blue…maybe I'll take some pictures and video and put it up on YouTube…

AvatarJunkie, thanks I tried to keep it as close to the actual series as possible. I've actually used foofoocuddlypoops as a screen name somewhere…email or something.

Okay, well my fingers are about to fall off from typing so much…OH! I forgot to say who Toph was going with for Homecoming (another crack/fanon pairing) Toph is going with Teo! XD Well they both have disabilities…I don't know I just love coming up with these pairings XD. Anyway…Teo can do the disclaimer since this is the chapter he premieres in!

**Teo:** Kat does not own any of us, Village Inn or...I think that's it for this chapter!

-Gaspeth- Wow, that's amazing! ENJOY!

**0o0o0o0**

"KATARA! YOU, TOPH AND SUKI BETTER GET YOUR BUTTS DOWN HERE NOW! We have to go pick up Aang and go eat dinner and get to the school AND YOU THREE ARE MAKING US LATE!!" Sokka shouted up the stairs.

"Sokka! CHILL OUT! We still have another TWO AND A HALF HOURS! We'll have plenty of time! It only takes twenty minutes to get to Aang's house and then fifteen from there." Katara called down.

"JUST HURRY UP!" Sokka shouted. Within the next five minutes the three girls came down all made up. Katara had on the blue dress she had picked out at the mall, Toph had a flowing green one that stopped right below her knees (Katara bought it for her since she couldn't go out and buy a dress for herself) and Suki had a sage green one that tied around her neck and stopped at her knees. "FINALLY!" Sokka shouted. "Now let's go!" Sokka grabbed Suki's wrist.

"Pictures?" Gran asked with her digital camera.

"We'll take pictures there, Gran." Sokka snatched the camera away from his grandmother.

"Don't worry, Gran. I'll take care of the pictures." Katara promised.

"Alright, have fun, but not too much fun." Gran smiled kissing Katara's forehead.

"Okay, Gran. See you tonight!" Katara called as Sokka dragged them all out the door. Suki got in the front seat with Sokka and Katara and Toph crawled in the back and they started towards Aang's house. Katara grabbed the camera from the front seat.

"Toph, smile! It's your first Homecoming!" Katara told Toph, holding up the camera.

"No way, Sugar Queen." Toph held her hand up to the camera as it flashed.

"TOPH!" Katara shouted.

"I don't like my pictures!" Toph told her.

"You can't see them." Katara looked at her.

"Exactly." Toph told her. Fifteen minutes later they arrived at Aang's house and Sokka carefully made his way up the drive.

"Wow, Aang sure does live out here." Suki commented.

"Yeah, it's not fun trying to get up here." Sokka told her trying to concentrate. Once Sokka parked Katara got out and ran up to the door ringing the doorbell. Aang answered.

"Ready to go?" Katara asked.

"Yep, let's go." Aang kissed her cheek. They all piled in the back.

"Okay, and Toph you're meeting Teo there, right?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah," Toph replied.

"Okay, then if I get off of this drive alive, we'll get to Village Inn." Sokka turned around and then started down the drive.

**o0o**

Soon they got back into town and Sokka pulled into the Village Inn parking lot. They all got out and started towards the front entrance where they found Teo in his wheelchair waiting with his Dad.

"Well, now that your friends are here I'll be off." Teo's father told him.

"Wait! Before you do, can you take a picture of all of us?" Katara asked.

"Sure," he shrugged. They all crowded together as the flash went off.

"Okay, thank you!" Katara grinned as she took the camera back.

"Wait! We don't have enough room in the car for Teo. What are we going to do?" Sokka asked.

"I could come pick Teo up after dinner, just call when you need me." Teo's father told them.

"Okay, see you later Dad." Teo waved as his Dad got in the car and drove off. They all went inside and were seated at a long table. Everyone looked over the menus after ordering what they wanted to drink. Katara looked around after she had decided.

"Aang, look who's here," Katara nudged her date next to her. Aang looked up to see Zuko. They caught the groups eye and they made their way towards them.

"How's my bitches?" Zuko rested his arms on Katara and Toph's heads.

"Nice to see you too, Zuko." Toph replied.

"Zuko! It took me two HOURS TO DO MY HAIR!" Katara roared.

"Ha, Zuko's gonna get it now." Sokka whispered to Aang.

"YOU JUST MESSED IT UP!" they were now making a scene and families were staring.

"God, Katara! One little strand is out of place now, that's all." Zuko rolled his eyes. He walked around to the side of the table and pulled up another small table for he and Mai. "Just please don't make me sit with the devil and her date with her friend and her date." Zuko begged. Katara glared.

"Your hair looks fine, Katara." Aang played with a little strand. "There," he tucked it behind her ear.

"Thanks," she smiled.

"You should get some friends of your own." Sokka told Zuko.

"I'm everybody's friend." Zuko said with fake enthusiasm. "Besides look who's talking."

"I have plenty of friends!" Sokka exclaimed. "Teo for example." Sokka put his arms around him.

"You didn't even know who I was before Toph and I started going out." Teo told him.

"So? I can still be friends with you now! And I have Aang who I've known since the second grade!" Sokka exclaimed.

"You know him through Katara." Mai rolled her eyes.

"Well, yes but—"

"You're kidding, Aang and Katara have been going out since what he was in kindergarten! God they start dating earlier and earlier." Zuko sighed.

"No, you idiot! Katara was telling me they've been friends since the first grade!" Mai flicked him in the head.

"They were 'friends' since the first grade." Sokka repeated with air quotes. "I've noticed Aang's little crush on her since like fourth grade or something."

After ordering, their food came and they all dug in.

"Please don't get anything on your shirt." Suki begged Sokka.

"This was a dangerous idea." Katara admitted.

They continued to eat their dinner and when they started to finish Toph reminded Teo, "You should probably call your Dad. How long will it take him to get here?" Toph asked.

"Maybe ten minutes?" Teo took out his cell and dialed his Dad. As soon as everyone paid their half of the bill they went out to wait on Teo's Dad. Zuko was driving his sister and her friends and dates so he went ahead and left for the dance. When Teo's Dad arrived Toph decided to go with them as they got Teo into the car.

"See you guys there!" Katara called getting into Sokka's car.

**o0o**

The school loomed into sight as Sokka parked. Aang opened the door for Katara and put his arm out and helped her out of the car. They got up to the school and stood in line with their tickets. Soon Toph and Teo arrived and they got through the lines. Katara, Toph and Suki went to go check their purses and shrugs or wraps. They met again by the gym door.

"Um…where are you're shoes?" Aang asked, realizing Katara was barefoot, along with Toph and Suki.

"Checked'em with my purse. It's way easier to dance without them." Katara laughed grabbing his hand and led them into the gym.

"Hey, Toph?" Teo shouted as they came into the gym.

"Yeah?" Toph bent over as Teo wheeled carefully through the crowd.

"Sorry we can't really dance." Teo scratched his head.

"What?!" she shouted.

"Sorry we can't really dance!" Teo shouted.

"Oh! No worries! I hate dancing." Toph replied.

"Okay, that's a relief." Teo sighed. "So why did you come?" he asked as they went to go sit by the side and grabbed some punch.

"Eh, well. I came because you asked me and it's a 'social event'. I have to take every chance I can to hang out with my friends." Toph shrugged. "And the music isn't half bad."

"You're dad's that much of a control freak?" Teo laughed.

"Heh, you don't know the half of it. It's because I'm blind. He thinks some sexual predator is gonna sneak up on me." Toph rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't let that happen to you. I'd use my super wheelchair powers to take them down." Teo laughed.

"Okay, I'll tell him that. Especially, because he doesn't even know I have a boyfriend. He'd murder me." Toph drained the rest of her punch.

**o0o**

Katara drug Aang out onto the dance floor and started to dance. Aang stiffly started to dance along side her.

"Come on, Aang! Dance like you do when it's just you and me!" Katara grabbed his hands.

"I don't know, Katara. I feel dorky." Aang looked at his shoes.

"Oh, come on. You'll never be dorky to me, and no one else cares." Katara spun around. Aang started to loosen up a bit. "There you go!"

They continued to dance, and soon it was the first slow song. Katara looked expectantly at Aang. "Are you going to ask me to dance?"

"I thought it was already a sealed deal." Aang smiled. Katara put her hands on his shoulders, "Are you going to dance with me?"

"Erm…" Aang hesitantly put his hands on her waist and Katara leaned in closer to him and lay her head on his shoulder. Aang smiled stupidly to himself as he tripped over his own feet.

"Sorry," he whispered, "so…um am I allowed to ask you out, for real now?"

"Yes," Katara looked up again with a smile.

"So, do you want to go out?" Aang asked awkwardly.

"Yes, Aang. Yes I do." Katara laughed.

**o0o**

"Hey, you wanna go get something to eat?" Sokka asked.

"How'd I know you'd want something to eat right after we went out to dinner?" Suki rolled her eyes. The dance was about half over. Sokka stuffed his face and grabbed a plate to put everything else on. Suki grabbed some punch.

"There's Toph and Teo!" Suki ran over to the couple.

"Hey, guys." Teo smiled.

"Why aren't you guys dancing? I haven't seen you out there all night!" Suki exclaimed.

"I'd love to, but it's kinda hard." Teo shrugged.

"Oh, right." Suki sat next to them.

"But we're still having fun. We've talked to almost everyone, but Azula. We ran, well I pushed Teo's wheelchair and we ditched when she came around. I think I ran over some people." Toph laughed.

"What? Are they okay?" Suki asked.

"God, does ANYONE have a sense of humor around here?" Toph asked.

"Well, I just don't want people hurt!" Suki hurt. "If you can't see and you're wheeling Teo around…that could be disastrous." Suki laughed.

"I had plenty of an idea where people were." Toph told her. "Sharper senses because I wasn't born with one or them? Ever heard of that?" Toph asked.

"Oh, I guess so." Suki shrugged.

"Hey, guys!" Katara exclaimed coming over, dragging Aang behind him.

"How's it going?" Sokka asked, having his mouth full of food.

"Sokka, you're disgusting." Katara rolled her eyes.

"Are we having our own party over here or what?" Zuko asked coming over with his hand in Mai's.

"Sure." Aang shrugged.

"Azula won't leave me alone. And Jet isn't much better." Zuko groaned sitting down.

"God Zuko, you and Mai must have been dancing a lot. You're sweating like crazy." Katara grimaced.

"This gym is so damn hot with all these people! I swear there's about three times as many freshmen here this year! There's hardly any room to move." Zuko wiped his forehead.

"Oh, my God!" Katara jumped up.

"What? Is it attack of the freshmen again?" Zuko exclaimed.

"Hey, I—" Aang attempted to stand up for his grade level.

"This is my favorite song! Let's go!" Katara dragged Aang off again.

**o0o**

It was five minutes till midnight as the last song started to play. Every one assumed their dancing positions as they danced their last dance of the evening. Afterwards, Katara Suki and Toph ran out to the get their things they check before there was a long line. Everyone piled in the cars, after Teo's dad picked Teo up.

"Bye, Toph." Teo waved. Toph leaned down and gave him a hug and pecked him on the cheek.

"Bye," she grinned as she got into the car. The ride back was silent and everyone was exhausted. Sokka was fine after drinking three Cokes he had bought and he had caffeine coursing through his veins. Katara leaned against Aang and closed her eyes. Soon they reached Aang's house, where the lights were still on welcoming them in.

"Okay, Aang. You're stop." Sokka told him.

"Night, Katara." Aang kissed the tired girl.

"Mm, night." Katara smiled. Aang grinned as he watched the car drive off and hurried into his house.


	9. Thanksgiving Dinner

I have a knack for posting things later at night don't I? Well, that's cause I procrastinate and then I'm like OH I HAVE TO GET THAT POST UP, and then I rush to write the post and then it turns out like crap lol. So here's today's post and tomorrow's will be Christmas Eve's post!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! AND U KNOW THIS, replying to your response about the name of the Academy, I know moon is luna in Spanish and several other languages but I remember in like some other language (maybe it wasn't Portuguese, maybe it was Italian?) I can't remember now but some odd language it was Lua. I just wanted it to be different from luna, which pretty much everyone knows.

Okay, so this is Thanksgiving random fluff stuff. It's not my best chapter but I still liked the ending of the chapter. I promise next two chapters will be WAY better than this. Okay, I'll just let you read. ;) Toph go ahead with the disclaimer.

**Toph: **Oh wow…nothing to disclaim other than ourselves? That's amazing.

Thank you, I know. Okay, enjoy everyone!

**0o0o0**

Fall started to pass quickly. Thanksgiving break loomed upon them.

"Hey, Katara!" Aang exclaimed catching up to her. She was talking to Toph.

"Oh, hey Aang." Katara smiled as he kissed her cheek. "I was wondering if you'd like to come over on Thanksgiving to have dinner with us." Katara suggested.

"Oh, that'd be great!" Aang exclaimed.

"Great, another day I don't get to spend with you guys." Toph sighed.

"Toph, why don't you invite your Mom and Dad over on Thanksgiving. There'll be plenty of food." Katara suggested.

"Maybe. And maybe pigs will fly." Toph rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on. I'm sure if you talked to your Dad maybe you guys could come over. He can watch you at all times." Katara shrugged.

"Mmm…maybe." Toph shrugged.

"Well, I gotta run or I'll be late to class!" Katara hurried off. Aang smiled as he sighed, watching her braid swing as she ran off.

"Don't you have class now? I have lunch, I promised Teo I'd meet him by my locker so I'll talk to you later." Toph walked off.

"Oh, right!" Aang ran off towards his class.

**o0o**

The doorbell rang.

"THAT'S AANG!" Katara screamed running towards the door.

"God, the house isn't on fire." Sokka rolled his eyes. Katara slid towards the door in her socks and swung the door open to reveal Aang and Gyatso.

"We're here." Aang grinned. Katara threw her arms around him. "Whoa, I've got pie. I don't want to mess it up." Aang exclaimed.

"You brought the Village Inn pie!" Katara laughed, remembering the conversation they had long ago.

"Of course, I told you I'd get some for you and me." Aang chuckled.

"Hey, Aang." Sokka grinned as he came in. Katara took the pie from Aang and they both took off their jackets. Sokka took them and hung them up as Aang followed Katara into the kitchen.

"Hello!" Gran exclaimed as she hurried about the kitchen preparing Thanksgiving dinner.

Aang smelled the air.

"Dinner smells nice," he grinned.

"Aang hasn't eaten anything all day, saving up for tonight's feast." Gyatso laughed.

The doorbell rang again.

"Toph!" Katara yelled heading towards the door again. She opened the door less violently. Toph and her parents stood at the door.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Bei Fong." Katara nodded. "It's our pleasure to have you for Thanksgiving. Please come in." Katara offered.

"Nice job, Sweetness." Toph whispered.

"Thank you," Toph's parents came in.

Katara took their coats and hung them up.

"Mom, Dad, this is my friend, Katara." Toph introduced them.

"It's an honor to meet you." Toph's mother smiled.

"Same to you," Katara gave a polite smile.

Katara led them into the dining room area, and then continued to help her Gran. Aang and Sokka were laughing about something when Toph and her family walked in.

"Toph, you made it!" Sokka exclaimed looking up.

"Mom, Dad, these are my other friends, Aang and Sokka." Toph introduced.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Aang smiled.

"Nice to meet you." Sokka grinned.

"I'm Gyatso, Aang's uncle." Gyatso shook hands with them. Gran stepped out of the kitchen taking off her oven mitts.

"And I'm Kana, Katara and Sokka's grandmother." Gran smiled. "And dinner's almost ready. Please excuse me."

Soon dinner was set out on the table and they all sat down to dinner. Sokka hungrily started to grab everything in sight but Toph kicked him under the table.

"Oh," he mumbled. He tried to eat daintily to impress Toph's parents. Maybe if this all went over well, Toph would have more freedom, if her parents realized she had good friends.

After dinner they visited for a little, but Toph's parents decided to leave.

"Well, yet again it's just us three." Katara sighed after they left.

"Ugh, I'm stuffed." Aang sat back on the sofa in the living room.

"When do we have to leave, Uncle?" he asked.

"Well, actually, tomorrow morning." Gyatso chuckled.

"What?" Aang asked, lazily.

"I actually talked to Kana before we left and we agreed that we could stay the night. Our bags are out in the car." Gyatso told them.

"Great!" Aang grinned.

"You can stay in Sokka's room and I'll stay in the guest room." Gyatso told him.

"Okay, I'll go get my stuff. And Uncle, did you bring the…so we can take care of that tomorrow?" Aang asked quietly.

"Yes, Aang." Gyatso laughed.

**o0o**

Sokka was slowly being awakened the next morning.

"Sokka, SOKKA!" Aang hissed.

"Mmm…five more minutes." Sokka grumbled.

"HEY!" Aang shouted in his ear.

"AH! WHAT?!" Sokka demanded.

"I want you to take me to go get Katara's Christmas present." Aang told him.

"I thought you and your Uncle was doing that." Sokka grumbled getting out of bed.

"He said we should go." Aang told him.

"God, it's six in the morning. How long have you and your Uncle been up?" Sokka pulled his shirt on.

"Since five." Aang shrugged.

"Geez, you guys are early risers. What are you getting her?" he asked.

"I found this bracelet that was my great-great-great-great-"

"Get on with it." Sokka growled.

"Greatgreatgrandmothersbracelet." Aang said quickly.

"So why do you need to go out again?" Sokka rubbed his eyes.

"I need to get it engraved on the little plate." Aang told him.

"Okay, whatever. Let's go." Sokka grabbed his jacket. "The mall will be open this early since it's the day after Thanksgiving."

They wrote a note for Gran and Katara and hurried out the door before they could be stopped.

**o0o**

Soon they got to the mall and Aang hurried to the place he could get to the bracelet engraved.

"So what are you getting it engraved with?" Sokka asked.

"I don't really know, I've been thinking about it. But it's paid for by word, and the little plate isn't that big so I can't do anything descriptive anyway." Aang shrugged, standing outside the shop.

"You don't know? You dragged me all the way here and you don't know what you want to get engraved on it?" Sokka groaned.

"Well, maybe you can help." Aang shrugged.

"Hmm…maybe something like '_Forever yours, Aang'_. So when she breaks up with you, you can get it back and give it to another girl." Sokka suggested.

"What? I don't plan on breaking up with her! We aren't planning on it!" Aang exclaimed.

"No one plans on breaking up, it just happens." Sokka shrugged.

"But-but-but Katara and I! We—"

"Are you planning on marrying her or something?" Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Well, no. I mean, uh…I don't know. But I don't ever want to break up with her, and I don't think we ever will. Do you think I'll marry her?" Aang asked, clutching the bracelet in his hand.

"I dunno. I've heard of high school sweethearts getting married. It's just kinda rare." Sokka shrugged.

"I just can't even think that far in the future…" Aang trailed off. "I just picture us being together forever. Or for a very long time. I don't see why we'd breakup, we get along so well." Aang sighed.

"Well, number one causes of breakups (if you last this long) is when you graduate you usually you loose touch." Sokka told him.

"I'll never loose touch with Katara. Never. No matter what happens, if we break up, we'll still be friends. I'll still call her. I'll write! I'll email…" he promised him self. "I—I don't want to break up with her!" Aang gasped.

"Well, chill out. You aren't breaking up now. Let's just go get this engraved." Sokka grabbed his arm and dragged him into the store.


	10. Christmas Eve

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE EVERYONE! Also Happy Chanukah, Kwanzaa whatever you celebrate! Okay, I know most of you haven't gotten a chance to read the last chapter but I wanted to get this up today for everyone to enjoy, because I actually got this one done ON TIME! -cheers- Gotta get back to baking! So I'll just let you read. Aang can do the disclaimer!

**Aang: **Yes! Kat doesn't own us or '_Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas_'.

Thank you. ENJOY!

**0o0o0**

"Hello?" Katara picked up.

"Good morning!" Aang called.

"Hey, Aang." Katara replied.

"Put your phone on speaker," Aang told her as he ran downstairs. "Hey, Uncle Gyatso! Say hi to Katara!" Aang called to his Uncle.

"Hello, Katara! Merry Christmas!" Uncle Gytso smiled.

"Happy Holidays!" Katara replied. "Hold on." There was silence and a rustling on the other line for a moment.

"Sokka! Gran! Say hi to Aang and Uncle Gyatso!" Katara called.

"Hello Aang, Gyatso! Hope your enjoying your holidays so far!" Gran replied.

"Great, talking to your boyfriend _again?_" Sokka asked.

"Sokka! You talk to Suki _all _the time! So quit it!" Katara shouted.

"Nice to talk to you again too, Sokka." Aang laughed. "So what are you guys doing for Christmas?" Aang asked.

"Nothing other than staying home and opening presents." Katara replied.

"Great, because I've come up with a great plan." Aang grinned.

"What's this?" Katara asked.

"Well, all we do is the same thing on Christmas morning and since we're both just sitting at home opening presents…I was wondering if you, Sokka and Gran would like to come over on tomorrow night and stay the night, so we can all open presents together that morning. And that way we don't have to wait until the next time we see each other to open each other's presents and stuff." Aang suggested.

"That sounds great! Can we, Gran?" Katara begged.

"Hm, I don't see why not." Gran thought. "It certainly sounds better than our usual lonesome Christmas."

"Great!" Aang shouted.

"What time tomorrow? Do you have extra room and everything?" Katara asked.

"Wonderful, just come over around after lunch tomorrow. And we have extra blankets and extra room." Gyatso replied.

"Can't wait to see you then, Katara." Aang grinned.

"What about me?" Sokka asked.

"You too, Sokka." Aang laughed.

"Talk to you tomorrow, Aang. Love you!" Katara called.

"Love you, too." Aang replied.

"Whatever. See you tomorrow, Aang." Sokka told him.

"Bye." Aang hung up. He started to dance around the kitchen. "This will be, by far, the _best_ Christmas ever!" Aang twirled around. Gyatso chuckled.

"So things are getting pretty serious between you and Katara?" he asked. Aang stopped and pursed his lips a blush rising in his cheeks.

"Uh…yeah…I suppose." Aang kicked the floor. "I gotta go clean my room!" Aang ran to his room. He shut the door and sank to the floor imagining what that Christmas would look like. Grinning to himself, he knew this was his favorite holiday but this season instead of feeling overjoyed, he'd feel ecstatic. Butterflies swirled in his stomach. Katara was coming to celebrate Christmas with them! He could sing. Quickly, he started to clear the floor of stray clothes and CDs and various debris. Standing back, he admired his work and then decided to check email. Opening the window and letting it load he opened his closet and pulled out the small box that was Katara's present, deciding to wrap it. Quickly, he popped open the box to glance at the sterling silver bracelet with a nameplate on it. He had decided on '_Forever Yours, Aang'_. He smiled, satisfied with himself, he had used most of his Christmas present money on it. But Sokka's words echoed in his head. _So when she breaks up with you, you can get it back and give it to another girl…_Aang shuddered. His mind created the scene where Katara sat him down.

"_Aang, I need to talk to you."_

"_What is it, Katara?"_

"_I think we should spend some time apart. I want to see other guys."_

"_What do you mean, Katara?"_

No, he couldn't think that! What had Sokka meant 'when _she_ breaks up with _you_'? Was Katara planning on breaking up with him? Maybe over the summer? Was she going on an exotic trip and forget about him? Suddenly an instant message popped up.

**Waterprincessx3: **Merry Christmas:D

Aang's head suddenly cleared, his heart leapt at seeing Katara's screen name and he jumped over to his computer and his fingers flashed across the keyboard.

**Headintheclouds91: **hey katara :)

**Waterprincessx3: **thanx again for inviting us over for xmas! -packing bags right now-

Another window popped up.

**Warriord00d465: **aang, when we cum ovr 2 ur house 4 xmas u keep ur hands off my sis.

**Headintheclouds91: **does that mean lips too? –sniggers-

**Warriord00d465: **YES U SNEAKING—

**Headintheclouds91: **k, sokka, chill.

**Headintheclouds91: **what if there conveniently happens to be plenty of mistletoe around?

**Warriord00d465: **AANG!

He switched back to he and Katara's conversation.

**Headintheclouds91: **srry, sokka's talkin' to me. Tellin' me to keep my hands off of u when u come over. Look:

_**Warriord00d465: **aang, when we cum ovr 2 ur house 4 xmas u keep ur hands off my sis._

_**Headintheclouds91: **does that mean lips too? –sniggers-_

**Waterprincessx3: **nice, aang ;) –blows kiss-

**Headintheclouds91: **-blows kiss back- lol. –is wrapping ur present right now :D-

**Waterprincessx3: **ahhh, i can't wait till xmas morning!! Especially being all snuggly in my pjs with u. Lol :)

**Headintheclouds91: **mmm…does sound good, doesn't it:) h/o brb

Aang flipped back to Sokka's conversation.

**Headintheclouds91: **brb, wrapping kataras xmas present.

**Warriord00d465: **w/e.

He hurried downstairs and started to dig through their storage room and looked through all the bags and ribbons and ran upstairs grabbing the hot glue gun on the way. When he returned upstairs he plugged in the glue gun as he spread out his materials and returned to his computer opening both conversations and typing the same message.

**Headintheclouds91: **gonna bbl, working on wrapping katara's present…so I'll be here but…I'll be a slow response.

And he set to work. As soon as the hot glue gun was hot enough Aang started to work on gluing different types of burgundy and evergreen laces and ribbons onto a festive yet sophisticated bag. Once he was pleased with how it looked he started to fill the bag with the same type of burgundy and evergreen paper and then set the bracelet box in there, then surrounding it with paper again. With the last touch he grabbed a pen and wrote on the bag '_With love, from Aang to Katara'_. Then he ran downstairs and added this present under the Christmas tree. Running back upstairs he cleaned up his mess and then jumped into his office chair.

**Headintheclouds91: **back!

**Warriord00d's Auto-Response: **So hungry I could eat a whole cow.

Aang rolled his eyes and switched back to Katara's conversation.

**Headintheclouds91: **immm back!

**Waterprincessx3: **welcome back. ;P

**Headintheclouds91: **might i say ur present looks beautiful under the tree too.

**Waterprincessx3: **I'll just have to wait till tomorrow to see! ;D

**Waterprincessx3: **g2g help gran pack up, kay? Tty tomorrow! Luv ya by!

**Headintheclouds91: **Love ya, ttyl!

**Waterprincessx3 has signed off at 11:23 PM **

Aang signed out as he ran downstairs. He had to find something to do until tomorrow. Aang thought about his mistletoe comment to Sokka and he grinned to himself. Quickly, he started to search through tubs of decorations in the storage room until he found what he wanted. Some mistletoe. Only one piece, but enough. He decided to hang it over his room since they'd be going in and out of it the most. Grinning to himself he pulled a chair to the doorway and started to hang it.

"I see you found the mistletoe." Uncle Gyatso chuckled as he came up the stairs.

"Ah!" Aang was startled and fell of the chair, the mistletoe falling on his head. Uncle Gyatso smiled as he helped Aang up and Aang smiled sheepishly. "Yeah," he grinned as he stood up on the chair again, hanging the mistletoe and getting off the chair and putting it back. His Uncle smirked at him as he passed on to the guest room to clean it up and get it ready for their guests coming over the next day. Aang leaned back on his bed just wishing time would pass.

**o0o**

_Scoop, lift, throw! Sprinkle. Scoop, lift, throw! Sprinkle. _This monotonous cycle repeated in Aang's head over and over for the past five hours. It was Christmas Eve and Katara and her family would be arriving soon and Aang was shoveling the drive, since it had snowed the night before, so they could get up to the house. He dragged the bag of salt with him to melt the ice and just as he was finishing sprinkling a patch of black ice he heard a car. Turning around he was greeted by Sokka's car. It slowed down and Aang ran to it as the window was rolled down.

"Hey," he grinned, his breath forming a little cloud.

"Merry Christmas, Aang!" Katara grinned.

"God, Aang! You must have been up since six shoveling this drive!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Five-thirty, and I didn't want you to worry about the snow and ice and trying to get up this drive." Aang replied.

"Thanks!" Sokka grinned.

"Go ahead up there, let me just finish this and put the shovel and salt away." Aang told them.

"Okay, see you when we get up there!" Katara smiled as Sokka started up the drive. Aang finished shoveling the last small hill of snow and hurried up the driveway. He stomped his boots on the front porch and leaned the shovel against the porch as he opened the door.

"Okay, I'm here!" Aang announced as he pulled off his boots and stripped his snow pants off down to his thermals.

"Sheesh, Aang. Keep your pants on!" Sokka laughed. Aang rolled his eyes as he glided over to Katara and placed a kiss on her lips. Katara smiled as they broke. "Hey! We already discussed this!" Sokka shouted.

"Put a sock in it, Sokka!" Katara smirked. "Where should I put my stuff?" Katara asked him.

"Uh…we can go put it up in my room?" Aang suggested.

"Okay," Katara smiled as she picked her bags up.

"I'll get these." Aang took Gran's bags for her.

"Thank you, Aang." Gran bowed her head in thanks.

"Sure," Aang grinned as he, Katara and Sokka headed upstairs. Aang stopped in the guest room and put Gran's bags away and then went back to his own room. Katara and Sokka dropped their bags.

"You wanna go downstairs and unload all the presents?" Katara asked.

"What are you Santa?" Aang laughed.

"Well, with all Sokka's presents…" Katara smirked.

"Hey, I didn't have any big presents this year. You probably have bigger presents than me." Sokka crossed his arms. They started to head downstairs but Aang stopped under his doorway and looked up, then looked at Katara. She giggled joining him under the mistletoe and they locked lips for a moment.

"Get a room." Sokka threw one of Aang's pillows at them. They broke and Katara glared at Sokka.

"Maybe we will." Katara smirked.

"Hey! I didn't mean—"

Aang and Katara started to laugh as they headed downstairs. "This is going to be one hell of a Christmas." Sokka growled.

**o0o**

"Hey, Katara?" Aang asked.

"Yes?" Katara replied not looking up.

"Katara?" Aang repeated.

"What is it, Aang?" Katara replied again not looking up from her work. Aang sighed as he floured his hands then dashed Katara's nose. She started to cough.

"Aang!" Katara took a small handful of flour and threw it in his face making it look ghostly. Aang shook it out of his eyes before grabbing an egg and smashing it on her head. She shrieked as the yolk ran down her hair and face. She took a cup of milk that Sokka had just measured out and threw it at Aang. He shouted as the cold milk drenched his clothing.

"What are you two doing?" Sokka demanded, but only got a stick of butter to the face in response. "You two are gonna get it!" Sokka shouted grabbing the vegetable oil and splashing the two already covered in flour, milk and egg. This continued until Gran and Uncle Gyatso rushed into the kitchen after hearing all the shouts and yells.

"What is going on in here?" Uncle Gyatso demanded.

"He started it!"

"She started it!" they all pointed fingers at each other.

"Katara! Sokka! You know better than this! We are invited into Aang and Gyatso's home for Christmas and you destroy their kitchen? I'm very disappointed in you two." Gran scolded.

"Actually, it was my fault. I started it by hitting Katara in the nose with flour, I'm sorry." Aang bowed his head.

"Well, as soon as you three get cleaned up you'll be in here cleaning this mess up, and we'll restart making those Christmas cookies. This time with supervision." Gyatso chuckled. Aang, Katara and Sokka trudged up the stairs careful not to get their mess on anything else as they made it up to Aang's bathroom.

"Look at us! We're a mess!" Katara laughed. They started to clean their faces and Sokka and Katara ran their hair underneath the sink to wash out the ingredients mixed into their hair.

"Ugh, look at my clothes! I didn't bring enough to change twice!" Katara sighed, looking at the mess spattered on her clothes. Aang moved out of the bathroom and scrounged around in his dresser.

"Here, you can change into these." Aang handed her one of his t-shirts and flannel pajama bottoms.

"Thanks!" Katara grabbed them giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Now out, out, out!" Katara shoved the two boys out of the bathroom as she changed.

"Gee, Aang do you have any clothes for me?" Sokka asked in a high-pitched voice.

"Well, if you need to borrow some to go clean up the kitchen…" Aang trailed off.

"No I was kidding. I'll just wear what I was planning on wearing tomorrow and then throw it in the washer overnight." Sokka told him. "If Katara would hurry up!" he added. Katara opened the door and came out.

"How do I look?" Katara asked doing a model turn.

"Well, those pajama's sure look a hell of a lot better on you than me." Aang chuckled.

"Oooh! Aang used a bad word!" Sokka teased before disappearing into the bathroom.

"Sokka, shut up!" Katara shouted after him. She jumped onto Aang's bed and lay back as they both waited for Sokka. As soon as he came out in his new clothes they ran downstairs to start cleaning up. Aang got out the brooms, mops and rags.

"Hey, Katara…" Aang trailed off.

"You aren't gonna throw flour in my face are you?" Katara laughed.

"No…are you…planning on breaking up with me?" Aang asked.

"What!? No! Who put that stupid idea in your head?" Katara asked.

"Um…Sokka…" Aang bit his lip.

"Sokka!" Katara shouted.

"No, I didn't! When?" Sokka asked.

"When we were getting Katara's present." Aang reminded him.

"Oh, that? I just said that because if you guys ever _did_ breakup Aang would never do it. He's too much of a…a nicey nice boy. Katara would do it for some reason, I don't know why. You're not afraid to break hearts, Katara. I've seen you do it before." Sokka shrugged.

"What? Since when?" Katara demanded.

"Since you've gotten every boy in school to look your way. Every boy in school wants to go out with you and then here comes little Aang freshman that captures your heart. You don't know how many boys wanted to take Aang out behind the school and shove him in the dumpster or something. All over you Katara. I heard the conversation and told them I'd go to the principle if anything happened. I think it was just a bunch of talk." Sokka told her. Both of them stood their wide-eyed.

"That many boys…are…?" Katara dropped her broom. "And Aang…"

"So you're not breaking up with me?" Aang asked.

"No! Never, Aang." Katara promised.

"AANG AND KATARA ARE GETTING MARRIED!" Sokka shouted, snickering.

"What? I never said that!" Katara exclaimed.

"You said you'd never break up with him. So you must be getting married." Sokka laughed.

"Well—but you see—Sokka! Stop confusing us!" Katara shouted. They continued to clean up.

"_Cause Aang and Katara are going to the chapel to get maarrriieeddd!" _Sokka sang to himself.

"SOKKA SHUT UP!" Katara roared. Aang blushed as he started to hum 'Carol of the Bells'.

"There's some appropriate music," Katara sighed, smiling, joining him in humming.

**o0o**

Aang grabbed one of the freshly made cookies and ran into the other room. He jumped onto the couch with Katara.

"Watch it! I have eggnog!" Katara laughed. Aang grabbed her glass and took a sip. "Aang!" she rolled her eyes. Sokka sighed as he put the movie in. After much discussion they had decided on '_How The Grinch Stole Christmas_'. Katara curled up next to Aang as Sokka pushed play on the menu.

About two hours later, they all exhaustedly made their way to Aang's room. Sokka and Katara got out their sleeping bags.

"Wait, Katara. Take my bed, I'll sleep on the floor." Aang offered.

"No, that's okay Aang, I'm fine on the floor." Katara shrugged.

"No, I feel awkward if I get a big comfy bed and I make you sleep on the floor. I insist you to sleep in my bed." Aang told her.

"Or why don't you two share it?" Sokka rolled his eyes. "Never mind, I won't find you fully clothed in the morning."

"Sokka, grow up!" Katara hissed. "If your sure, Aang." Katara bit her lip.

"Yes, I'm sure." Aang nodded pulling out his sleeping bag from the closet. She uncertainly crawled onto his bed and slipped under the sheets.

"Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!" Aang called before shutting the lights off. Katara giggled in the darkness.

"Night, Aang." Katara grinned as she buried herself in his bed sheets.


	11. Christmas Morning

Such creative chapter titles. -ahem- AH! So sorry I didn't get to this on Christmas morning. But y'know it was Christmas. And then we were getting ANOTHER snow storm that gave us another foot or so of snow ON TOP of the already two feet from the LAST storm. So we had to go visit all the relatives we were going to visit over the week in two days before the snow came. And among all THAT I had my parents birthdays between Christmas and now. So I've been extremely busy and any free time I was playing with my xmas presents. I had such an Avatar xmas! I got:

-Avatar TCG  
-Avatar #3 graphic novel  
-Aang action figure  
-Water Tribe Aang action figure  
-Ultimate Aang (or as I say: Tickle me Aang, because you squeeze his sides and he talks! 'I am the Avatar!' 'I must master all four elements!' 'I won't let Zuko capture me!' 'I love Katara!' Ha, I wish. I was waiting for him to say something about Katara but sadly no. He's still really fun to play with though. I don't care if I'm a fourteen year old girl! I can still enjoy action figures! XD)  
-Sokka action figure (well it was my brothers but we share)  
-Avatar Game Cube game  
-Airheads (with little flip books, I got Katara!)  
-Nick Scene it! (Part of it's Avatar shrug)  
And I got a new movie editor FOR BETTER VIDEOS! Hooray! Okay I'll stop rambling. Zuko, do the disclaimer!

**Zuko: **Kat does not own us. Wow, you even made up a video game name? That sucks? Seriously who'd play some thing called—

Would you shut up and let them read already? I can't help it if I come up with lame video game names. I'M NOT A GAMER! In fact the only game I've ever beaten by myself is Avatar. (Not to mention I had cheats).

**0o0o0o0**

"Katara! Katara, wake up! It's Christmas Morning!" Aang shook Katara awake. "C'mon, Sokka! Out of bed! We have presents to open!" Aang shouted. They both started to stir.

"Oh, my God, Aang! It's four in the morning!" Sokka growled burying himself back into his sleeping bag.

"Aang, let's wait until at least seven, okay? Go back to sleep." Katara yawned as she turned over in the bed. Aang sighed as he sat on his sleeping bag and leaned against the wall. He buried himself back in his sleeping bag. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't go back to sleep. He tossed and turned and stared at the clock, which slowly and painfully kept time.

4:07.

Aang thought about Katara's present under the tree feeling more relieved about it. He thought about how her reaction would be. She would absolutely love it, he knew. He couldn't wait until she opened it. He wondered what she got him.

4:08.

Well, it didn't really matter, as long as she loved his present. He smiled to himself as he stared at the ceiling. Then he glared at the clock until another minute passed.

4:09.

Aang looked out the window and looked at the winter wonderland before him. The moon was just about to dip below the horizon, but it was still enough to shine on the snow and make it glisten. He turned around.

4:10.

"Katara," Aang whispered, coming to her bedside.

"Aang, I already, told you, go back to bed. Wait until seven, not seven seconds." Katara groaned.

"No, Katara you got to see this." Aang grabbed her hand and pulled her out of bed.

"What is it?" Katara mumbled. Aang took her to the window. "Wow…it's beautiful." Katara smiled sleepily. "A perfect white Christmas. With my perfect man." Katara snuggled closer to Aang. "And it won't be your last." Aang promised.

"No, it won't be." Katara smiled. "But really Aang, it's four in the morning. I'm going back to bed. Thanks for showing me that though." Katara yawned crawling back to bed. She fell asleep on top of the covers. Aang came over and pulled the covers over her as he smiled. He yawned as he sank down and put his head on his bed. His hand reached out and grabbed a hold of Katara's. He glanced at the clock.

4:13.

He fell asleep.

**o0o**

"Aang…" Katara giggled. "Aang!"

Aang jumped awake.

"It's seven-thirty! Come on!" Katara grinned. Aang smiled as he rubbed his eyes. Sokka was getting up, though he didn't look very happy about it. Aang pulled himself to his feet and kissed Katara 'Good Morning'. Sokka rolled his eyes as Aang and Katara ran past him and down the stairs almost tripping. Gran and Gyatso were already in the kitchen making sweet rolls for breakfast.

"PRESENTS NOW!" Aang shouted.

"God, Aang. You act like your still five years old." Sokka rolled his eyes, making his way into the kitchen.

"Well, I still am on the inside!" Aang laughed. "Now, come on!" Aang shouted.

"Slow down, Aang. We'll get to the presents. How about breakfast now?" Gyatso asked.

"How about we eat WHILE we open! I just want Katara to open her present!" Aang grinned.

"Well, I don't see any harm in that." Gran shrugged. As everyone sat down Aang jumped around, handing out presents.

"And the best of all…" Aang handed Katara the bag that his present for her was stashed in.

"Thank you." Katara smiled. "So do I open it first or last?"

"Whatever you want." Aang grinned as he sat next to her.

"Okay, I'm curious. So I'll open it first." Katara grinned back.

"Go ahead." Sokka told her.

"Okay," Katara started to throw the paper out of the bag. She grinned when she saw the case and opened it. Katara gasped as she took it out to admire it.

"Forever yours, Aang." Katara read. "Oh, thank you, Aang!" Katara flung her arms around his neck. Aang smiled smugly to himself. "It's absolutely beautiful! It must have cost you a fortune! God, I feel bad, my present isn't nearly as great or personal." Katara sighed.

"Actually, I just had to pay to have it engraved. That was actually my—"

"Don't bore her to death." Sokka quickly threw in.

"Great-great-great-great-great-great Grandmother's bracelet." Aang's head bobbed as he recited the 'greats'.

"Oh, wow…" Katara stood speechless, admiring it as she put it on. "I should have saved this for last! Nothing will amount to this."

"It's nothing, really." Aang blushed.

"Okay, if Aang's Mister 'best present giver', let's see what he got me." Sokka grabbed the present that read 'To: Sokka From: Aang'. Sokka started to peel back the paper.

"Oh, my God. OH, MY GOD! Is this…IS THIS '_Quest for Freedom'_!? IT HASN'T EVEN BEEN IN STORES YET! HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET THIS!?" Sokka demanded.

"I have connections…" Aang grinned.

"You said you spent all your money on Katara's gift!" Sokka exclaimed looking over the case.

"Well, I found some extra cash between the couch cushions." Aang laughed, shrugging.

"ARE YOU AND GYATSO BANK ROBBERS?! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! THIS IS THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER. I have to tell, Zuko. RIGHT NOW!" Sokka ran to get his cell phone. He flipped it open and found Zuko's cell number and hit it. He put it on speaker and set it down.

"Sokka, I don't know if you've realized this. BUT IT'S CHRISTMAS MORNING! It's sorta the season for family…SO GO BUG _THEM_." Zuko growled as he picked up. He had obviously recognized the cell number.

"ZUKO! I GOT '_Quest for Freedom'!!" _Sokka shouted.

"What? Yeah, right. I'll believe that when pigs fly." Zuko rolled his eyes.

"NO I'M SERIOUS! Aang got it for me!" Sokka shouted.

"Whatever. I'm tired of your sick joke. It doesn't come out for another three weeks." Zuko told him.

"NO, WAIT! I swear. You can come over and we can play later." Sokka told him.

"The joke is up! Now let me get back to watching my sister be the favorite child. So far she's gotten diamond earrings, a new car, a laptop, a new iPod…and all I've gotten is socks, underwear and a dorky plaid shirt. I have this feeling Azula put itching powder in the underwear. I'll just go crawl up in a corner and cry like I do every Christmas." Zuko sighed hanging up.

"Well, nice to hear from Ebenezer Scrooge this Christmas." Katara rolled her eyes.

"I thought he usually had good Christmases. Remember in like the third grade or something and he came to school wearing those shoes, that EVERYONE wanted, but NOBODY had." Sokka thought.

"Those were from his mother. Remember when he came back from sixth grade summer break? He was all depressed and emotional to everyone and the teachers set him up with the counselor. I heard something happened to his Mom or something." Katara shrugged.

"Oh," Sokka shrugged. "That's pretty sad."

"Yeah…Aang go ahead and open my present!" Katara told him. Aang grabbed his gift and started to unwrap it. He grinned as he realized what it was. It was The Sims 2 game.

"Hahaha. Thanks, Katara." Aang pulled her into a one armed hug.

"I just remembered how you said you would play it but you were broke. But you know if you find all this money in your couch cushions…" Katara laughed.

"No, no. Thanks." Aang laughed.

They continued to open presents until the living room was filled to the brim with paper and bags. They could hardly find their presents in the mess. Aang grabbed his gift from Katara and ran upstairs with Katara following. He put the first disk in and started to install it.

"So what are you going to do first?" Katara asked.

"Exactly what you did." Aang grinned. Katara grinned back.

"I thought you would," she laughed. "Let me help you with it. How many kids should we have?" Katara giggled.

"You mean in the game right?" Aang bit his lip, grinning.

"Well, yeah. Unless you want to discuss it in real life?" Katara smirked.

"Uh, we'll wait until we know we're getting married." Aang lunged for the mouse to open the game before Katara could bring the conversation any further.

**0o0o0o0**

Before I forget, I'll try to get a New Years post up. I don't know when that'll get up. Still busy with family and I have a New Years party to go to…but I'll be working on that…


	12. New Year's Eve

New Years post finally! On what? The 26th? Just imagine its New Year's again okay? Alrighty then, it's a really long post and I even considered breaking it up into two updates but I just wanted to give it to you guys straight up. Anyway, yeah, bumped up the rating for adult situations and good mature Aang/Katara stuffs near the end. It's not terribly naughty, but it's on the edge and I hope it's not too OOC and like...yeah. I attempted drawing fanart for this chapter but it turned out crap like most of my drawings, well it was okay crap. Lol, so…I don't really know where I'm going with it after this, I'll probably do a Valentine's Day post and I considered speeding it up to summer's break and do a road trip or something fun like that. I've also considered doing a prequel fanfiction to this one and do it around the 'trip' that comes up in other chapters about the previous summer. –shrug- I'll think about it but in the mean time enjoy! Sokka can do disclaimer.

**Sokka: **Okay! Kat doesn't own us and she got something off of Wikipedia, you little cheater.

Hey, I ain't typing all that up. That's why Wiki's there.

**0o0o0**

"Hello?" Aang answered his phone.

"Hey, Aang. Plans for New Years?" Katara asked.

"God, you spent all Christmas with him, maybe it's time to spend time with family?" Sokka suggested.

"Aang is family!" Katara fought back.

"What are you _married_, or something?" Sokka demanded.

"No! Sorry, Aang," Katara said, apologetically. "Speaker phone, doing Sokka's dirty laundry, so he thinks he can come and watch, while listening in. I wish we could make it _private,_" she emphasized, with a cough towards Sokka, "but I don't have a headset since Sokka sat on mine a few weeks ago." Katara groaned.

"Why? What are you going to do? Ask him to come over so you can go into your closet to ta—forget I said anything." Sokka's voice came from the background.

"Anyway, I was hoping you could come over. I talked to Toph; she said her parents would let her stay until only ten, but at least it's something." Katara told him.

"Yeah, I'll talk to Uncle Gyatso about it." Aang told her.

**o0o**

On the day of New Year's Eve, Aang pathetically looked through his closet.

"No…no…no…no…no…UNCLE GYATSO!" he shouted. His uncle came to his room.

"Why do I have no decent clothes to wear?" Aang groaned.

"Because you don't like to go shopping." Gyatso replied simply. Aang banged his head against his closet door.

"But I want to look nice for Katara!" Aang moaned.

"Why don't you just wear what you wore for Homecoming? That still fits." Gyatso told him.

"But Katara picked that out. She's already seen it." Aang sighed.

"Ah," Gyatso nodded. Aang looked back in his closet. His eyes widened and he jumped hurrying across the mess that littered the floor, breaking something he got a few Christmases ago he was sure. It was a nice striped button up shirt.

"Do you know where I got this shirt?" Aang got resurfacing from the mess in his closet. Gyatso shrugged. "Well, it looks like it fits. I'm gonna go iron it!" Aang hurried out of the room.

**o0o**

"Hey, Sokka, how do I look?" Katara ran into her brother's room.

"Fine." Sokka replied drably, not looking up from his computer.

"Sokka! Really. Look up from our computer, look at me and tell me how this looks. You're a guy, what do you think Aang would think of me?" Sokka spun around in his computer chair and surveyed his sister and a light blue long sleeved blouse, black knee-length skirt and her hair down.

"You look like you're sixty, do something with your hair, roll up your sleeves and get a shorter skirt that'll get Aang's attention." Sokka told her.

"Sokka!" Katara rolled her eyes.

"Hey, you wanted my advice. I'm a guy. You want to know what a guy would like." Sokka shrugged.

"But Aang—"

"You wanted my advice. Take it or leave it." Sokka raised his eyebrows.

"I'll do my hair, roll my sleeves up. But I'm not getting a skimpy little mini skirt that could pass for a belt just to please Aang. Aang doesn't think that way. I don't even OWN one of those things." Katara stormed off.

"At least wear a skirt above the knee!" Sokka called after her. She continued to storm. "Whatever. She better not blame me when Aang doesn't look at her twice. Oh, that's right, he looks at her twice all the time, silly me." Sokka walked back into his room.

**o0o**

That night at 7 P.M. sharp Aang rang the doorbell. Toph was already there, since she wanted to start her party time as soon as possible. Katara gasped and jumped up as she ran to the door.

"What is she, a trained dog?" Toph asked Sokka before following her friend to the door.

"Something of the sort when it comes to Aang." Sokka rolled his eyes. Katara opened the door and Aang grinned as Katara gave him a hug. He lightly kissed her as he came in and handed her something.

"It's sparkling cider, for midnight. Y'know, it's like champagne except it doesn't have any alcohol. Or apple juice except it's all fizzy." Aang explained.

"Awesome, thanks." Katara smiled as she took it into the kitchen. After Aang took off his jacket and took off his shoes he gave a hug to Toph.

"Hey, glad you could come over tonight." Aang told her as they came back into the main room with Katara and Sokka.

"Yeah…but I can only stay till ten." Toph sighed, sitting next to Sokka again.

"At least it's something." Aang shrugged as he took a seat next to Katara and put an arm around her.

They spent some time watching movies, but Toph grew impatient and demanded that her only time there she did not want to be watching movies. So they went upstairs and Sokka demanded that they all crowded around his computer and he opened up a bookmarked page.

"Okay, I've been waiting to do this until everyone was here. See what we do here, is we enter all of our names, how were all connected to each other…yadda, yadda…little profiles of everyone. Here I'll let everyone fill in their little sections." Sokka let everyone sit down and take turns. Katara typed for Toph and they filled one out for everyone else they knew and then Sokka sat down and hit submit.

"And then see! It will create our own television show! Like who's what characters and antagonists and protagonists and plots and stuff. Isn't it awesome?!" Sokka asked as they finished for the page to load. As they waited Toph impatiently pushed a button on Sokka's stereo to listen to some music and jumped up on Sokka's bed.

"Mm-hm…" Katara sighed rather skeptically as she crossed her arms.

"Toph, you're going to hurt yourself." Katara rolled her eyes, used to her friend's behavior. They let it load for a little while until it finally came up.

"Okay, are you ready for this? Here's what it says:

_A century prior to the series' opening, __Aang__, a 12-year-old Airbender of the __Air Nomads__Southern Air Temple__, learned from the elder monks that he was the Avatar. Usually, the Avatar is told of his or her true identity after turning sixteen; however, the monks feared that a war between the four nations was on the horizon and that soon the Avatar would be required to maintain balance and order in the world. Shortly thereafter, the monks decreed that Aang would be separated from his guardian, __Monk Gyatso__, and sent to the Eastern Air Temple to complete his training._

_Confused, frightened, and overwhelmed by these recent events and his new responsibilities as the Avatar, Aang fled from his home on his __flying bison__Appa__. While traveling over frigid southern ocean waters, a sudden storm caused Appa to plunge deep into the sea. Aang unconsciously entered the Avatar State, and used __Airbending__ to protect Appa and himself by creating an air bubble around them. However, the air bubble quickly froze into a sphere of ice, forcing the two of them into a state of __suspended animation_

_The series opens one hundred years later, with the __Fire Nation__ on the brink of victory in its imperialist war. The Water Tribes are in crisis — the Southern Water Tribe's warriors have left to wage war, leaving their home defenseless, while the Northern Water Tribe, though largely intact, is continually on the defensive. The vast __Earth Kingdom__ is now the only true barrier to the Fire Nation's conquest, but as the Fire Nation continues to encroach on its borders and conquer its territories, hopes of victory grow bleaker with each passing year._

_Two teenage siblings from the Southern Water Tribe — __Katara__, an inexperienced Waterbender, and her brother __Sokka__ — discover and free Aang and Appa from the iceberg. Aang soon discovers to his horror that, during his absence, a century-long war has been waged. The very year he vanished, __Fire Lord Sozin__ took advantage of both the Avatar's absence and the __Firebending__-enhancing powers of a passing comet to launch a war on the other nations. To Aang's shock and disbelief, the Fire Nation's opening __gambit__ had been a __genocidal__ assault on the Air Nomads. The Air Temples were stormed and the Airbenders slaughtered in the Fire Nation's effort to break the Avatar Cycle, leaving Aang as the last known Airbender in existence. _

_As the Avatar, Aang's duty is to restore harmony and peace to the four nations. Along with his newly discovered friends Katara and Sokka, his flying bison Appa and his __winged lemur__Momo__, and later the blind Earthbender __Toph__, Aang travels the world to master all four elements. During his quest, he must constantly evade capture by the banished __Prince Zuko__ and his sister, __Princess Azula_

_The exiled 16-year-old prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko is obsessed with capturing the Avatar in his quest to restore his honor and redeem himself in the eyes of his father, Fire Lord Ozai. His character matures throughout the show, influenced by his time as an exile, and he becomes less of a spoiled prince and more of an emotional outcast, at times struggling with his feelings of pity and bonding with the same people his nation has terrorized. He often acts coldly, but has revealed himself to be a very caring character as well - a trait which most often is exhibited in the presence of his Uncle Iroh. Zuko's appearance is well-known due to the scar over his left eye, which he received during an Agni Kai with his own father._

_The 14-year-old princess of the Fire Nation, Zuko's younger sister, and Fire Lord Ozai's favorite child, Azula has been cruel and self-centered her entire life. Her mind is set on war and power; she manipulates and even tortures others to advance her own desires, ignoring family and emotional bonds whenever necessary. As a Firebending prodigy with a sadistic personality, Azula is a dangerous bender. She sees others as expendable, and intimidates her lackeys and all those under her command._

_Although normally years of disciplined training are required to master a single Bending art, Aang must be a master of all four and defeat __Fire Lord Ozai__ by summer's end, when the return of Sozin's Comet will give the Firebenders the power to win the war. If these events come to pass, not even the Avatar will possess the ability to restore balance to the world._

"That's weird…" Katara read over his shoulder.

"No, that's awesome!" Sokka exclaimed.

"I'm an…Earthbender…? Okay, cool." Toph shrugged.

"So…I'm this 'Avatar'…and…I'm being chased…by Zuko and his sister?" Aang laughed.

"And it says we found you in an iceberg…" Katara skimmed over the lengthy anecdote again.

"We should totally make a home movie. Let's see what's Zuko and his sister and friends are doing tonight!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Oh, come on, Sokka not tonight. We'll get together after school sometime." Katara reassured him, even though she knew they wouldn't. There was no way Azula and her friends into that house.

"Fine, party pooper!" Sokka folded his arms and then jumped on his bed with Toph and danced to his music with Toph.

"Just for the record," Katara yelled to Aang over the loud music, "I doubt they're going to get through this night without getting hurt. I'll have 911 on my cell, speed-dial." Katara shrugged as they walked out of the loud room. Katara leaned on the rail and looked down to the first floor and checked the clock in the living room.

"Nine-thirty, Toph will have to leave soon." Katara sighed.

"Mm…" Aang sighed, as he rubbed her back. Katara stood up straight and leaned into Aang as he wrapped her into a hug. Suddenly, Katara felt something wet and sticky hit the side of her face.

"What the…?" Katara looked up. Sokka and Toph were looking out of Sokka's room with straws and laughing. They high-fived each other and disappeared back in the room.

"SOKKA!" Katara roared. She tore into the room and chased him down. Her long slender legs carried her fast and trapped him down on his bed. Toph slowly shrank against a corner of the room.

"SOKKA! I AM TRYING TO SHARE ONE NICE QUIET MOMENT WITH AANG AND YOU AND TOPH HAVE TO GO AND RUIN IT WITH _SPITBALLS!"_ Katara pounded on Sokka as he tried to defend himself. "LISTEN! IT'S ALMOST A NEW YEAR! MY RESOLUTION WAS GOING TO TRY AND BE NICER TO YOU BUT IF YOU ARE GOING TORTURE AANG AND I, I'M GOING TO FORGET THAT!" Katara sat up and glared at him before storming out and slammed the door. It was silent and Toph and Sokka looked at each other.

"Did you _see_ Katara's face?" Sokka bust out laughing.

"I _WISH_ I could!" Toph laughed, "Just _listening _her was good enough! She was soo mad!" she giggled.

"I knew that would be the last straw on the camels back." Sokka sniggered at his pun.

"Ugh, 9:45. I'll have to leave soon, but I'll have my cell phone on vibrate so you can keep me posted on any Katara/Aang torture." Toph snickered.

**o0o**

A little later Toph left and Aang, Katara and Sokka decided to finish the movie they started to watch earlier in the movie. Well, Sokka watched it as Katara and Aang visited.

"Do you mind? I'm watching. Why don't you go somewhere else?" Sokka suggested.

"Okay—" Katara started to get up.

"No! Stay. You and Aang are going to sneak off to a closet. Just—stay." Sokka growled.

"Why do you always assume Aang and I are making out? Have we ever just sat there and made out, Aang?" Katara asked.

"No." Aang shrugged. "We're too intellectual to do that. We'd rather have an intelligible conversation." Aang folded his arms.

"Whatever." Sokka rolled his eyes. "What about that time at the movie theatre?"

"What about it? We never said we sat there and made out!" Katara fought.

They watched the movie for a while until it was ten minutes until midnight. They turned on the TV to the countdown and watched the large crowds. Aang slid into the kitchen and he grabbed the sparkling cider and ran out to the back deck. He struggled with popping the plastic cork.

"Oh, give it to me, you pansy." Sokka growled. "We're going to miss the countdown." Sokka rolled his eyes as he popped it.

"Sorry." Aang stormed back inside following Sokka. They poured it into the slim champagne glasses, as it was only three minutes left. They all stood around the television.

"Reday? Ready? Ready? Ready? READY? Last two minutes of this year! You'll never get this year back! Ready?" Sokka jumped around.

"You're going to hurt yourself!" Katara said in a sing-song voice.

10.

9.

Aang put his arm around Katara's waist.

8.

7.

"Ready for the New Year?" Aang asked.

6.

"A whole new year with you?" Katara smiled.

5.

"Of course." Katara grinned

4.

3.

2.

1.

"Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year, Katara." Aang tapped his glass to hers. As soon as her glass left her lips, Aang met his lips with hers in a sweet passionate kiss.

"First kiss of the New Year." Aang grinned.

"First kiss of the New Year," Katara nodded.

"Hey, if ya'll are done kissing…" Sokka raised his glass. They all tapped glasses with each other.

"Hey, let's you and me go watch the fireworks from my room." Katara whispered to Aang. They both ran up to her room and sat on her bed. The soft booms came from behind the mountains in the distance. She giggled as they both kissed, completely ignoring the fireworks in which they had come up to watch in the first place. Katara kicked her shoes off and crawled up onto her bed, kneeling as she leaned more passionately into their kiss. She accidentally spilled some of the cider that she still held in her hand.

"Oops," she laughed quietly. Katara set down the glass on the bedside, as did Aang. "You might want to change your shirt."

Instead of letting Aang change his shirt she pushed him back into the heated kiss. Her tongue asked for entrance into his mouth, as she straddled him. Aang sat back startled but taking it all in. They had never before kissed like this before. Her fingers went for his shirt and started to unbutton it.

_Apparently she's helping me change my shirt,_ Aang thought sarcastically to himself. His fingers timidly followed as he undid her blue blouse. It was as Katara was unbuttoning his pants he stopped them.

"What are we-you doing?!" he hissed, trying not to stare too much at her scarcely covered chest.

"—I think I left my noise maker in Katara's room!" Sokka's voice came from the stairs. They had no time to react. Sokka came in. He screamed.

"AH! OH SHIT! OH SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" Sokka ran out of the room. "GYATSO! GRAN! AANG AND KATARA ARE HAVING SEX IN KATARA'S ROOM! THEY ARE HAVING _SEX_! STOP THEM!" Sokka shouted. Aang started to re-button his shirt.

"Now look at what you did!" he hissed at Katara.

"I—but—I don't—I didn't—bu—wha—" Katara stumbled stupidly. Aang ran out of the room, closely followed by Katara. Sokka was running around the kitchen and he screamed when Aang and Katara came in. He grabbed the champagne bottle and started to down whatever was left, which was quite a lot, considering only Gyatso and Gran had only one glass each.

"Sokka!" Gran scolded. He dropped the bottle and grabbed the phone book and opened it.

"Do you think there's any therapist's open this late?" he asked hysterically.

"Stop it." Gran hissed shutting the phone book. Sokka slammed his head multiple times against the phone book laughing hysterically.

"This is a dream! A horrible, perverted, caffeine induced NIGHTMARE!" Sokka laughed, insanely. Gran grabbed his hair to stop him, then she turned towards Aang and Katara, Gyatso following example. Sokka stood next to them copying Gran's threatening glare.

"Who are the punishers here?" Gran growled to Sokka.

"Sorry." Sokka ducked out. "I'll just go…" Sokka stared at them, his eye twitching

Gran returned to glaring at the two.

"We—"

"I—"

"Bu—"

"An—"

"Katara explain yourself, _this instant. _This is _not_ the way I want to start this year." Gran barked.

"This should be good." Sokka said under his breath, just loud enough for Katara and Aang to hear. They ignored him.

"I was living in the heat of the moment?" Katara shrugged. Gran glared.

"Who am I kidding?" Katara groaned. "I don't know what I was doing. I was punch drunk, I guess. Maybe Sokka _spiked_ the drinks?" Katara glared.

"WHAT? No, I didn't!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Aang, what do you have to say for yourself?" Gyatso folded his arms across his chest.

"I'm sorry, Uncle. I was just up there with Katara watching fireworks and it was just all so fast and I don't know. Nothing really happened except for my shirt came off and Katara's shirt came unbuttoned. I'm sorry, it'll never happen again." Aang apologized, blushing. "Not until we get married anyway." Aang said under her breath to Katara. She giggled and blushed.

"What are you saying to my baby sister?" Sokka demanded. Gran and Gyatso stayed silent for a few moments and sighed at the same moment.

"Never again." Gyatso told them. "We should get going."

"But, Uncle! The New Year _just _began! A little longer?" Aang groaned.

"Go get your things." Gyatso told him.

"Okay," Aang groaned.

**o0o**

Sokka grabbed his cell phone and ran into his room. Aang had just gone home and it was about 12:30. He flipped it open and dialed Toph.

"Toph..." Sokka started.

"So what's new? What did you do? Throw cider on Aang and Katara as the New Year rand in and they were kissing?" Toph guessed.

"No, but that would have been good, but I would have had to clean it up." Sokka pointed out. He lowered his voice, "I caught Aang and Katara about to have _sex_ in Katara's room tonight."

"YOU WHATTT?!?!" Toph hissed, obviously not wanting to wake her parents. "Please tell me I'm loosing my hearing."

"Yeah, I walk in and Aang's shirt is off and Katara's shirt was unbuttoned. If I didn't get in there any sooner…I don't want to think about it." Sokka told her.

"Hu—Bu—Wha—?" Toph stumbled still in shock. "Damn, those two move WAY too fast."

"And then they blamed ME for spiking the cider." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"That would be a good idea." Toph admitted.

"Yeah…but then things like _that_ happen. I don't care how much fun spiking drinks are, I don't want anything to happen to my sister, no matter how much of a pain in the ass she is." Sokka told her.

"Wow, you sure do care a lot about her. I wish we were brother and sister. At least then I'd have more freedom. Maybe I can adopt into your family. Your Gran is a lot better than my Mom and Dad." Toph told him.

"That would be weird if you were my sister. We'd probably get sick of each other." Sokka told her. They were silent for a moment.

"Nah."

**0o0o0o**

As I was writing this I sorta thought I shoulda made this a Tokka fan fic cause I never put Suki in here I feel kinda bad. But I still kinda like Sokka and Toph as just best buds, not as romantically involved. So –shrug-, anyway I hope that Aang/Katara wasn't to OOC horrific for ya'lls.

Also, I thought it was funny to throw in the whole TV show generator thing. ;)


	13. What Really Happens at Art Club

Hey, if I updated yesterday it would have been a month EXACTLY! -cough- Anyway! I have teh update-ish! HUZZZAH! I'm just looking for ideas now...I got this idea cause there's something going around my school, lol. We hit a hundred reviews last chapter! -throws miniature party- I went back last chapter (cause I'm so skeptical of my work) and reread it and now I hate it. But I wrote it when I was on all my heavy duty headache meds, so that explains it. Of course I'm still on some meds so WATCH OUT! Lol, jk. I think I'm better now. It was still fun to write whether I was drugged up or not so it was an exciting twist? Sure, we'll go with that. Anyway, here's this update and we'll see where we from this. Toph take it away!

**Toph: **Let's see...you don't own the Academy Awards...or M. Night Shyamalan.

Yup, I had to poke some fun at that whole Live Action Avatar movie deal. I seriously don't know what to think about that. That's so weird. I mean by now I think they would have said if it was a rumor but I mean an Avatar live action movie people? It'll be weird. I'll certainly go see it if it happens, but I still can't really see it.

**o0o**

"Sokka! Sokka, have you seen Aang?" Katara fought her way through the crowded hall.

"No." Sokka replied collecting his books.

"He wasn't at lunch and—"

"He went home sick. Left me a note in our locker." Sokka told her.

"You could have told me that when I asked where he was." Katara put her hands on her hips.

"I didn't feel like it." Sokka replied simply.

"You're an lazy idiot." Katara rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Sugar Queen." Toph came up behind her.

"Hey, Toph." Katara greeted her.

"I have Aang's math homework. I figured you were going to go visit him and sit by his sickbed all night or something, so I thought I'd give it to you." Toph handed her a packet.

"Thanks—"

"Oh, no. I'm not driving to Aang's tonight." Sokka shook his head.

"Please, Sokka!" Katara begged him.

"Katara, you have your permit, why don't you go?" Sokka asked.

"Sokka you know I have to have a driver in the car with me. And you know there's no way I'm going up that driveway." Katara told him.

"There's a first for everything. You'll have to do it eventually." Sokka told her.

"Not today, Sokka. Please, just drive me up there." Katara pleaded.

"For a price." Sokka told her.

"Name it." Katara sighed.

"My chores, for a week. No two. And, ten bucks. No, fifteen. I need lunch tomorrow." Sokka told her. Katara groaned as she took out her wallet from her purse and checked it.

"Do you have change? All I have is a twenty." Katara told him.

"Nope." Sokka grabbed the twenty. "I knew this whole you and Aang thing would pay off eventually."

"And while you two bickered and worked out your little deal, I just missed the bus." Toph said as the bell called the buses departure.

"Why don't you just come with us?" Katara suggested.

"Uh, hello? What about my parents?" Toph asked.

"Call them and tell them we're all doing a club after school." Katara told her "And say Sokka will drive you home afterward." Toph thought about it.

"Fine." Toph pulled out her cell phone and dialed her parents.

"Hi, Mom? I missed the buses, but I'm going to stay after school with Katara and Sokka. Yes, there's an after school club, I'll get more involved with the school. What club? It's uh…Art club. I know, Mom. Think about it though. I could be a prodigy. A blind artist! Isn't there some famous artist that's blind? Anyway, I missed the buses and Sokka's staying after school and he offered me a ride home. Yes. I know. 4:00. Okay. Bye." Toph hung up.

"I got it. Barely." Toph told them.

"Art club?" Sokka asked.

"First thing that came to mind." Toph told him. "Now come on, I only have till four."

"Hang on, I have to go find Zuko first." Sokka told them, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Why?" Katara asked. Sokka held up a print out.

"It's that internet generator thing. I wanted to show it to him. He's pretty good with videos and cameras and things. Maybe if he liked it we could use his cameras and make a movie and enter the school's film festival." Sokka told them.

"Oh, Sokka—" Katara started but Sokka already took off. They found them at Mai's locker. Zuko had his arms wrapped around her waist and she was talking to Ty Lee.

"Hey, Zuko!" Sokka called.

"What now?" Zuko turned towards them.

"I found this thing on the internet it was this generator thing I did of all of us. I think it'd make an awesome movie idea. Read it and tell me what you think." Sokka gave it to him. Zuko reluctantly took it and started to read it.

"It's a load of shit." Zuko handed it back. "I'm a banished prince that's chasing Aang all over the world, because my father banished me from my country and Azula is trying to track me down and kill me? Thanks, that made me feel even better about my life. I'm going to go slit my wrists when I get home."

"Zuko, you need to talk to a guidance counselor about your family problems." Sokka told him

"I'm kidding, you idiot. Those counselors are creepy. Especially that Ju Dee one. Actually I think it's a conspiracy. They've brainwashed like thrity different women and they all think they're Ju Dee because I've been sent down there at least seven different times and there's been seven different women all claiming to be Ju Dee." Zuko shuddered. "Anyway, the only thing keeping me going is I'm leaving my family next year."

"What about me?" Mai raised her eyebrows at him.

"Well, you too. But I was just saying that—Damn, I dig these holes I can't get out of." Zuko groaned.

"Oh, Katara. I forgot my English book in my locker, can you go and get it?" Sokka asked.

"No! I'm not your slave. Go get it yourself." Katara told him

"Aang…" Sokka taunted.

"Fine." Katara hurried back down the halls.

"Anyway, over break, on New Years, I found Aang and Katara—" Sokka started to talk as soon as Katara left.

"I don't care about your gossip." Zuko tried to shut him up.

"No, but I found Aang and Katara—" he dropped his voice "—about to have sex."

"Why the hell would you make up this gossip? I mean your little sister and mister goody two-shoes Aang, who was too afraid to ask her out at the beginning of September or whatever?" Zuko looked at him strangely.

"I wouldn't make this up! I swear!" Sokka told him.

"Why, did you get them drunk or something?" Mai asked.

"No!" Sokka shouted.

"I bet they got in a hell of a lot of trouble." Zuko sniggered.

"Well, personally, I think they got off easy—" Sokka started to recount but Katara came back with Toph.

"Here's your English book." Katara told him. "Now can we go, now that Zuko's rejected your big movie idea?" Katara asked. Zuko sniggered at her and raised his eyebrows. "What's your problem?" she asked.

"Nothing." Zuko eyed the ceiling, rocking on the balls of his feet.

"Whatever, let's just go." Katara told him.

**o0o**

A little while later they arrived at Aang's house. Katara rushed up to the door and rang the doorbell as Sokka and Toph came up behind. Gyatso answered the door.

"Hi, is Aang doing better? I heard he was sick today. We brought his work from school." Katara said really fast, grinning. Gyatso smiled at her.

"He's only got a cold. Right now he's up in is room, I'll go see if he's awake." Gyatso invited them in. They waited for a few moments and Gyatso reappeared.

"You guys can go on up," he told them. Katara bounded up the stairs and slowly opened the door. Aang was sitting up in his bed and blowing his nose.

"Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka, Toph." Aang smiled at them weakly. He looked a little worn out and he sniffled. "I didn't expect you guys to come over."

"Of course, Aang." Katara leaned down and gave him a hug and kissed his cheek.

"Hey, hey. No close proximity. You'll catch my cold." Aang told her.

"I don't care, I have a good immune system." Katara smiled.

"Okay, will you two stop with the mushiness?" Sokka asked.

"Here's your math homework Twinkletoes." Toph handed him the work.

"Thanks." Aang smiled, putting the work on his side table, knocking over a few used tissues.

"Yeah, you might want to think about cleaning up." Sokka eyed the germy tissues.

"I'm sick!" Aang laughed, sounding stuffed up.

"We know, Aang. Sokka is just joking." Katara put a hand on his.

"So you made it over, Toph?" Aang asked.

"Yeah, I told my parents I was staying after school for an after school thing." Toph told him sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Art club." Sokka snickered.

"Art club?" Aang laughed.

"Like I said, I'll be a prodigy. Give me a piece of paper and a pencil." Toph told Sokka. He rolled his eyes as he dropped his bag and got out his notebook and a pen.

"Here," he handed her the notebook. Toph started to draw and after a few minutes she held it up.

"There. Isn't it a masterpiece?" Toph asked.

"It looks sort of like a dying cow." Sokka turned his head and looked at it. "No, wait! If you turn it this way, it sort of looks like a person. A deformed sort of person."

"It could be abstract." Aang laughed.

"I tried. I'll take this home to my parents and tell them this is what we did in Art club." Toph shrugged.

"Anyway, Sokka showed that generated thing off the internet to Zuko." Katara told Aang.

"Yeah, what did he think?" Aang asked.

"He thought it was stupid." Katara laughed. "I don't think Sokka will be getting that Academy Award he was hoping for."

"I just thought it was a good idea!" Sokka folded his arms.

"Then you can take it to Hollywood and get it produced yourself." Katara told him.

"You know what? I will. And I'll get the best director ever to make it! M. Night Shyamalan." Sokka folded his arms.

"You only like him because he does all those horror films, what makes you think he'd take that stupid plotline?" Katara scoffed.

"You'll be lucky if they take it as a kid's program." Toph laughed.

"It'll be the best kid's program around!" Sokka argued.

"Okay, okay. Let's stop talking about it because we all know it's not going to happen." Aang tried to settle them down.

"Fine, but I'll show you all someday." Sokka growled.

"Okay, as long as you buy us all big mansions when you're a big producer." Katara shrugged.

"Well, if you're going to act like that to me maybe I won't!" Sokka turned his nose in the air.

"Then I'll take legal action!" Katara exclaimed standing up.

"You can't sue me!" Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Guys!" Aang shouted.

"Sorry. You're sick and we come and yell." Katara apologized.

"What time is it?" Toph asked.

"About three-thirty." Sokka replied.

"We need to get going. It takes twenty to twenty five minutes give or take to get back to our houses and if I'm a minute over four my parents will have a rescue party after me." Toph rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, do we have to leave?" Katara asked taking her seat next to Aang's bed again as if she were going to stay. "Can't you go and drop Toph off and come pick me up tonight?"

"No, Katara! Do you realize how much gas costs!? Besides, I am _not_ you're personal chauffer." Sokka told her.

"Alright. I'll be down in a minute. Let me say goodbye to Aang." Katara sighed. Sokka moved closer to her and stared her and Aang down. "What the hell are you doing?" Katara asked.

"I'm not leaving you two alone. Especially after—" he dropped his voice. "New Year's Eve."

"I had nothing to do with it. It wasn't me." Aang mouthed to Sokka.

"Look, I told it was some other worldly spirit taking over me or something. Or maybe it was you just spiking the cider." Katara shoved him out of the way.

"I told you I didn't!" Sokka shrieked.

"Look. We can sit here and play World's Unexplained Mysteries all day or we can get me home before I'm put on posters and the back of milk cartons all over the nation at 4:01!" Toph shouted.

"Fine! I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Katara leaned down and kissed Aang's forehead. "Get plenty of rest and drink plenty of orange juice!" Katara shouted as Toph and Sokka dragged her out of the room.

"I will!" Aang smiled.

"Get better!" Katara yelled from downstairs as she was forcefully dragged out the door.

"I know, I will!" Aang yelled with his hoarse throat.


	14. The Last Straw

Holy, moly. This is the LONGEST chapter ever. I could easily break it into two parts but nah, I'll let you guys have it all. Cause I'm just cool like that. Thanks to everyone who has gone around pestering me saying 'Psst, update Homecoming why don'tya?' Yeah, this is why it's taken me so long. This update in word is ten pages long. Without the double spacing. Okay? Okay. Now, just to warn you I'm getting near the end here with this (unless I hit a JACKPOT of ideas but hey, guys, remember this started as a oneshot and it's bloomed into this HUGE --when I say huge I mean it with all you reviewers and were up to what? Fourteen chapters!--fanfiction) I still have like spring break to get to and I'll probably end it when they reach summer vacation, because if I just do this for too long it's just gonna get stupid when I run out of ideas...(kinda like if Avatar had 67 seasons) but DO NOT PANIC. Before you start running around in little circles screaming your heads off...hear me through on this. I have about a bajillion ideas branching off of this (okay only really three but...). I mean like a prequel, sequel, a sequel to the sequel. So my AU goodness doesn't end when 'Homecoming and Parties' does. But I do believe in the voice of the people so I need your input okay? So like on all those little game shows get out your voting pads. Or like on American Idol get out your cell phones and dial 1-800-uhhh...AVATAR-ROCKS! I don't know. Don't ask me. Really. But seriously don't _really_ call. It'll say the phone number you've dialed is invalid or something. Here are you're choices though.

**A) **Prequel - You know how I was brining up that time Aang, Katara and Sokka went to the beach last summer? That's what this fanfiction is about. I've already got like a _whole_ two paragraphs started and I've got somewhat of an idea on where that's going. But sadly, no Toph, Zuko, Mai...any of them. Just a roadtrip of Aang, Katara and Sokka. Maybe a few mentions of those characters, but they won't be prominate.

**B) **Sequel - Zuko dominate! Zuko takes a vacation with Uncle, Mai, and Ty Lee. Ideas are brewing in my head for this one like a hurricane. This is going to be fun my friends. But the downside to this one, not very many mentions of Aang, Katara, Sokka or Toph. And look there's sub categories for this one: **B1: **Post this as a seperate story. **B2: **Just add more chapters onto this story.

**C)** Sequel to the power of two! - This is probably my least favorite, but I could have the most freedom with this one. Just them all out of college and out in the real world. (This idea might be TOO similar to my 'Southern Air Temple' so I might just chuck it to the rubbish bin, but I wanted to see what people thought)

I'll probably end up doing both A and B but I want to know which idea is most popular and what I should get going on first. So basically your voting if you want to see more of Aang, Sokka and Katara or Zuko, Mai, Ty Lee and Uncle. Man, Toph looses out either way. I'll figure out a fanfiction for her, TO THE DRAWING BOARD! Ideas? Well, for right now, enjoy the super long post. Toph, since you never get to play significant parts here do the disclaimer.

**Toph: **That doesn't make up for all the hurt you've put me through. I'm such a neglected little child. I'll be in therapy for years. Kat doesn't own us. By the way, I did the disclaimer last time.

I know, that's just because I feel so bad for you.

**Toph: **I don't need your pity.

**o0o**

"I'm breaking out."

"What the hell?" Sokka's face contorted.

"I've finally had enough of Azula's shit." Zuko told him.

"Aand…?"

"Aannd…I'm coming over to your house. You don't mind do you? No, I didn't think so." Zuko said with a note of sarcasm in his voice.

"Zuko! I don't think—! Don't you have any other friends? What about Mai? Go live with your girlfriend!" Sokka hissed at him.

"Are you kidding? Azula hangs out with her every weekend! She'd find me to come torture me there too." Zuko yelled at him as if he were a moron. "Look, I just need to lie low until I figure out something with my Uncle? Okay? See you in ten minutes. Bye." Zuko hung up.

"What was that all about?" Katara asked, spinning on her office chair as she chatted with Aang online.

"Zuko. He's invited himself to live here for a few weeks cause he can't put up with Azula anymore." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"You're serious? Well, I couldn't put up with that bitch as a sister either." Katara rolled her eyes as she turned back to her keyboard and typed away at it.

"I better go call Gran at the grocery store and tell her to baton down the hatches. We'll have an angsty teenager with family problems here for who knows how long." Sokka headed out of her room.

**o0o**

Ten minutes later there was a rapid knock at the door that didn't stop until Sokka eventually opened it. Katara came down the stairs to hear what was going on.

"Zuko, this is ridiculous. What the hell did Azula do to you anyway?" Sokka asked.

"Well, she was going to go out driving without a licensed driver in that pretty new car my dad got her for Christmas (why does she need a car? She's fifteen and has her permit for Christ's Sake! I suppose she should learn on the car she's going to be driving for a while…but she'll probably go total it here soon!) Anyway, and I thought about just letting her go and get in trouble but then I'd probably get locked away in my room for a week with no food or something if I didn't try to stop her and so when I try to stop her she almost ran me over with her new car and then bitched me out for almost denting her new car. And it was just the final straw, and I went and grabbed whatever I could and grabbed my shitty car and got the hell out of there." Zuko told them.

"And what are you planning on doing?" Sokka asked.

"You can't just live here." Katara agreed.

"I'm staying here until I can figure something out. My uncle lives an hour and a half away from here; if I go live with him right now, I am not driving an hour to school everyday." Zuko told him. "Now, go put my bag away, bitch." Zuko loaded the bag onto Katara.

"Excuse me, your living in my house. Go put your own bag away, bitch." Katara threw the bag back.

"Excuse me, but—" Zuko started.

"You're all excused, but I'm going to dinner with Suki tonight and I'm not going to be late." Sokka pushed his way upstairs.

"Well, Aang's coming over tonight!" Katara hurried up after him.

"Are you just going to leave me, I don't know where the guest room is and everything! And you're all going to go party and you expect me to sit up in my room all night." Zuko dropped his arms to his side. Katara sighed and turned around.

"Why don't you invite Mai over? Sokka, call Suki and tell her you're staying here. We can all stay in tonight." Katara suggested. Sokka looked at Zuko and Katara.

"I suppose. Let me go call Suki." Sokka slammed his door.

"So…where is the guest room?" Zuko asked.

"In the basement, just past the bathroom, you'll find it." Katara pointed over her shoulder.

"I hate the basement, it's cold and has spiders." Zuko complained.

"YOU'RE SLEEPING ON THE CURB THEN!" Katara shrieked.

"Fine." Zuko growled kicking his bag downstairs.

"And tell Mai to bring her bathing suit, we've got a hot tub!" Katara reminded him. She ran to Sokka's room.

"—so tonight Katara wants to do some little party get together thing…" Sokka told Suki.

"Tell her to bring her bathing suit." Katara told him. She ran into her room and signed onto instant messenger. _Please be on, please be on,_ she pleaded.

**Waterprincessx3 has signed on 4:47 PM**

**Headintheclouds91: **hey katara wat brings you onto IM?

**Water****princessx3: **just wanted to tell you to bring your trunks 2nite, u know how i said zukos over here? Well sokka had a date with suki and i suggested they stay in and zuko invite mai and we all hang out here and we can all get in the hot tub

**Headintheclouds91: **sounds good, 5:30?

**Water****princessx3: **yup see you 2nite

**Water****princessx3: **love u lots

**Headintheclouds91: **love u too –blows kiss-

**Water****princessx3: -**blows kiss back- bye

**Water****princessx3 has signed off at 4:53 PM**

"Aw, how sweet." Zuko said in her ear.

"Holy shit, Zuko!" Katara jumped. "What the hell are you doing in my room!?"

"I was bored in mine." Zuko shrugged.

"That doesn't mean you can come and scare the shit out of me! Jesus Christ, Zuko!" Katara hissed throwing FooFoocuddlypoops at him.

"Oh no. I wouldn't want to be hit by a old decaying teddy bear." Zuko said with a false fear.

"Just—go do something else! I need to get changed for tonight! Go watch TV!" Katara shouted at him.

"Where's a TV?" Zuko asked.

"Downstairs in the living room. Remote's on the table." Katara folded her arms. Zuko turned around and left.

**o0o**

As Katara fixed her favorite long fitted tee shirt and faded jeans she heard a shriek downstairs. Figuring it was Gran she ran downstairs.

"Who are you? Get out of my house!" Gran had a kitchen chair over her head. Zuko was up on the couch with his hands out in front of him in defense.

"Calm down, lady! I'm Katara and Sokka's friends!" Zuko exclaimed.

"How do you know my grandchildren, you crazy—!?" Gran demanded.

"Gran!" Sokka eventually shouted. Katara stood mortified watching her Gran terrify Zuko. Suddenly she wished she had had a video camera. "Gran, that's Zuko. The friend I was telling you is staying with us for a few weeks." Sokka snickered. Gran looked wary of the teenager.

"He dresses funny." Gran eventually said.

"It's a style." Zuko proclaimed stepping off of the couch.

The doorbell rang as it cut the tension.

"Saved by the bell," Katara breathed as she ran to the door. Aang appeared on her doorstep.

"I know it's like 5:15, but I didn't think you'd care if we were early…" Aang grinned.

"Of course not, Aang." Katara gave him a hug. Aang kissed her cheek as he came in the door and he waved to Gyatso as he left the driveway.

"Anyone else here?" Aang asked.

"Other than Zuko, no." Katara shook her head. "Everyone's getting here at odd times."

"Did I walk in at the wrong moment?" Aang asked as everyone stood around.

"Uh…kind of. Gran and Zuko just faced off." Aang gave her a bizarre look. "Gran sort of mistook Zuko as a stranger."

"Oh…okay." Aang nodded, snickering, imagining the scene.

"You want to go put those upstairs in my room?" Katara asked.

"Sure." Aang agreed.

"Gran, what are we doing for dinner?" Sokka asked as his eyes followed his sister and Aang go up to their room.

"I got some frozen pizzas if that's okay." Gran started to unpack the bags she had dropped.

"Okay," Sokka nodded. He motioned to Zuko to follow him as they went up the stairs their backs pressed to the wall. All of a sudden Sokka jumped out pointing in a general direction of Katara's room.

Katara straddled her office chair and Aang was on the bed.

"You pulled me up here to see them talking? Being attacked by your grandmother was more fun than this." Zuko walked away.

"Aw, I was so sure I busted you two!" Sokka groaned.

"You want to bust us? Doing what?" Katara asked acting innocent.

"You know very well what." Sokka glared at them.

The bell rang again as Sokka and Zuko raced each other to the door to open it.

"You _don't _live here!" Sokka shouted opening it. Suki appeared.

"Damn it! Where is Mai?" Zuko groaned.

"She isn't late." Sokka told him as he welcomed Suki in. "What time did you tell her?"

"5:30." Zuko replied.

"It's barely 5: 30." Suki checked her watch.

"Exactly." Sokka agreed. Zuko went back upstairs.

"Hey, bitch. I'm thirsty, get me something to drink." Zuko told Katara.

"There's something in the fridge." Katara rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Zuko. I don't like you calling Katara a bitch." Aang stood up.

"Relax, little freshman. It's a term of endearment." Zuko pinched her cheek. Katara rolled her eyes as she pushed him away.

"Well, I don't like it still." Aang's voice shook.

"Aang, leave it." Katara told him.

"No! I'm going to stand up for what's right." Aang put his hands on his hips.

"I appreciate you standing up for me, but that's just the way Zuko is." Katara sighed.

"Just chill out, Aang. Not like she cares." Zuko pushed Aang back on the bed as he left.

"You haven't asked her! You don't know what she really thinks!" Aang shouted after him.

"Aang, stop it, I don't care. I don't want to pick a fight with Zuko when he's staying the next few however long." Katara sighed grabbing his hand.

"But it's not right." Aang told her again.

"Just—" Katara started but was cut off by the doorbell. They both dropped the fight, and went downstairs to welcome their last guest. Zuko was already at the door as he kissed Mai as a welcome.

"I can see you finally got away. Nice place to hide." Mai smirked.

"It was the only place available away from Azula." Zuko shrugged. "I already got attacked by Katara and Sokka's grandmother. She thought I was some robber and then she thought I was a sexual predator or something when I said I knew Sokka and Katara." Zuko laughed.

"Well, you kind of look like you could mug someone, no offense." Mai snickered.

"Hey, I—"

"No offense, Zuko, but you do." Katara sang. Zuko growled.

"Okay, now that everyone's here…we'll have pizza in a bit…you guys want to go downstairs?" Katara suggested. Sokka led the way downstairs.

"Hey, I didn't know you guys had a pool table." Zuko made his way over to the table.

"Yeah, you want to play?" Sokka challenged.

"You're on." Zuko smirked as he grabbed a cue stick. Sokka started to chalk his stick as he glared at Zuko. Katara and Suki took a seat on the barstools as they started to chat as Sokka and Zuko decided what they wanted to play. Mai leaned against the wall as she watched them. Aang stood behind Katara as he distractedly played with her hair.

"You are the guest…you break." Sokka offered. Zuko raised an eyebrow as he bent over and lined up his aim and shot as he got the twelve ball into right corner pocket. He moved around the table to look for his next shot. At last he locked it in. As he lined it up, he looked up at Mai who was watching him.

"Come here." Zuko beckoned her. "You take my shot."

"I don't know how to, I've never played." Mai shrugged.

"I know, I'll show you, come here." Zuko told her. Sokka groaned as he walked away, to see what Suki and Katara were talking about.

"Here, put your fingers like that…and put your arm back here, okay, keep your arm straight here." Zuko leaned down beside her and helped aim her shot. "Ready, set, go." Zuko led her arm through the shot. It banked off of the edge of the hole. Zuko groaned.

"Sorry," Mai apologized.

"It's no problem." Zuko shrugged.

"Are you guys done yet?" Sokka asked as he grabbed a handful of M&M's sitting out.

"Yes, please, grace us with your greatness, Lord Sokka." Zuko bowed out of the way. Sokka rolled his eyes as he took his position to shoot.

Just as he drew back the cue stick and shot the doorbell rang.

"Who would that be?" Katara asked as she got up.

"I don't know but they messed me up!" Sokka shouted.

"But you made a shot! My turn!" Zuko snickered. Katara ran up the stairs as Mai, Suki and Sokka stood at the bottom of the stairs and listened up.

"Just a second!" Katara shouted as there was a harsh knocking. She swung the door open to reveal Azula.

"Azula!?" Katara gasped.

"Azula!" Sokka repeated back downstairs.

"What!?" Zuko asked.

"Azula, what are you doing here?" Katara asked, back upstairs.

"Are you blind? My brother's car is here. Where is he?" Azula asked.

"Dude, your sister is here, hide in the closet in your room!" Sokka pushed him back.

"No! I'm going to go give her a piece of my mind and tell her to leave me alone. My dad isn't here to protect her, I can do whatever I want to her now." Zuko pushed him away.

"That's a stupid idea! You're hiding, remember!" Mai grabbed his arm.

"Stop it!" Zuko shoved her and ran upstairs.

"Azula, why do you want to find me so badly? You hate me. Wouldn't you just be happier at home without me?" Zuko growled as he came up behind Katara.

"Aw, Zuko. Dump Mai to come hang out with this slut? I do hope you let Mai down easy, I don't know about her but I sure wouldn't want to be replaced with a wench like this." Azula made a pouty face.

"Azula, you better—!" Katara clenched her teeth. Mai hurried up the stairs eager to join in the fight.

"For you're information, Azula, I'm still with Zuko. And I'm about sick of your crap. You've bullied me into being your friend since elementary school and I'm done with it. I'm done with all of your shit." Mai hissed at her. Azula looked positively shocked Mai would dare stand up to her.

"This is your mistake, Mai. The only reason you were ever close to popular was because—you—hung out—with me." Azula hissed through her teeth. "This is the biggest mistake you'll ever make," she told her.

"I don't need your popularity, Azula." Mai smacked her across the face. It was silent, as Azula held her face with her jaw open, as she was completely stunned.

"Ah—bu—an—wh—well!" Azula stormed off. She got in her car and slammed the door as she started the engine and backed out of the drive.

"I hope she gets pulled over for speeding and gets caught for driving without her license." Mai spat.

"Whoa…you totally just bitch slapped my sister." Zuko ran his fingers through his hair. "You just took her on! And gave her a taste her own medicine! You just—Oh my, God. That was just _awesome!_" Zuko jumped around with wide eyes, like a kid on Christmas morning. "I could kiss you and I will." Zuko grabbed her and started to kiss her. Sokka, Suki and Aang came upstairs.

"What just went on? I heard a catfight, and I think I heard a slap was that Zuko and Azula?" Sokka snickered.

"Sokka, stop it!" Suki playfully punched his arm. Zuko broke away from Mai.

"No, Mai just totally took on Azula! It was awesome!" Zuko retold the story.

"Mai?" Suki asked.

"Yes, believe it or not." Mai smirked a bit.

"Well, I think pizza's almost done." Katara peeked around the corner towards the kitchen.

They had dinner, and afterwards Katara suggested getting in the hot tub, since she had everyone bring their bathing suits. Everyone occupied bathrooms and bedrooms as they changed.

"Hey, Katara, do you have an extra towel I can borrow?" Aang asked as Sokka came out of his room.

"Hold it right there!" Sokka exclaimed.

"What?" Katara groaned. Sokka pulled a roll of duct tape from behind his back and advanced on Katara and spun her around. "What are you—?" Katara asked.

"Making sure you're top _does not _fall off this time. I'm devising plans from now on to 'Katara and Aang proof' things we do." Sokka wrapped the duct tape around the latch on Katara's bikini top.

"Okay, do I want to know what you're doing?" Zuko asked as he came upstairs.

"Last time we were all in the hot tub, Katara conveniently lost her bikini top. It's not coming off this time." Sokka tore it off, and finished it.

"Oookay then." Zuko raised his eyebrows.

"Are you going to change into your swimming trunks?" Katara noted that he was only wearing denim shorts instead of swimming trunks.

"I sort of ran away and brought enough _clothes_. I didn't bring a bathing suit. I'll just wear this and put it in the dryer later." Zuko shrugged. Soon they all moved outside on the deck as Sokka remove the cover.

"Damn it, the wind is cold! Hurry up!" Mai hissed. At last they all got in.

"Ooh, this hits the spot." Suki grinned.

"Hey, Aang. Try to get the duct tape off my bikini…" Katara said, quietly but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Katara! Don't you dare—!" Sokka screamed. Aang snickered.

"I was kidding. God, Sokka. But you know, if this duct tape is supposed to keep my bikini on for good, how am I supposed to take it off? I suppose you won't volunteer for the job…I suppose I'll just have to have Aang do it." Katara's gaze drifted to Aang.

"No way. Nobody's doing anything. I can cut it or peel it back off or something. I just had to make sure you or Aang won't try anything to sneaky." Sokka told them.

"Next thing you know, he'll be locking you up or something." Zuko laughed.

"But seriously this is my favorite suit. You better not destroy it." Katara glared. A light went out next door and they could hear a window slide open as someone struggled up a fire escape ladder. They all remained silent as they watched. Toph appeared, coming out of her basement bedroom with her towel and her bathing suit on.

"You guys were having a party and didn't invite me?" Toph asked.

"Toph! Well, it's just so hard with your parents…" Katara exclaimed. Toph fit into the crowded hot tub.

"Yeah, I don't blame you. I know. But my parents are having a dinner party tonight and I saw all the cars over here, so after dinner I complained that I ate to much and I told my parents that I'd sleep it off." Toph shrugged.

"Nice." Sokka grinned.

"So what brings you to the 'hood, Zuko and Mai?" Toph asked.

"I didn't know we were all gangsters now, but I am now living in this 'hood." Zuko replied.

"What!? I didn't see any houses up for sale or you didn't say you were moving. Aw, that means we have Azula in the neighborhood!" Toph groaned.

"No, no. Zuko decided to move in with us." Katara rolled her eyes in Zuko's direction.

"Zuko…decided to move in…just like that? Why? It's not like…wait. If you're excepting people for board, can I move in?" Toph asked.

"Rather you than Zuko." Katara mumbled.

"Hey! I need your spare room! Azula pushed me over the edge, and then Mai pushed her back into place." Zuko kissed her cheek.

"Really?" Toph asked.

"Yeah, right before dinner Azula showed up asking where I was and she thought I dumped Mai and I was going out with Katara," Zuko gagged and Katara slapped his arm.

"I'm not that horrible!" Katara exclaimed.

"I wouldn't go out with you if my life depended on it." Zuko told her.

"Yeah...same here." Katara agreed. "We're more of a brother-sister rivalry."

"Anyway, Mai came and practically dumped her as a friend and slapped her across the face. It was awesome!" Zuko retold the story again, proudly.

"That's awesome that Mai stood up to her like that…but what I don't get is that, Mai has more guts than you?" Toph asked.

"What!? No! I don't have a girlfriend tougher than me!" Zuko growled. Mai raised her eyebrows and folded her arms waiting for his explanation.

"Well, you know, you just let Azula walk all over you and finally you cracked and you had to wait for Mai to put her in place. I'm just saying you could have done that all along." Toph shrugged.

"Are you crazy?" Zuko exclaimed. "If I did? I don't even want to think about it. My Dad would have my head if I raised my voice to her or laid one finger on her." Zuko explained.

"Man. Well, it's time someone stood up to her." Toph shrugged.

"Now, if Ty Lee will turn on her…" Mai thought.

"She'll be completely friendless!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Not exactly, she has her little group of followers, but she'll loose her two sidekicks from elementary school and she'll start to crash and burn." Mai shrugged.

"So how long are you staying, Zuko?" Toph asked.

"Until this summer, when I can move in with my Uncle for the summer. He lives about an hour and a half away from here, so I couldn't go live with him now." Zuko replied.

"So, you must really like to hang out with your Uncle?" Katara questioned.

"Oh, yeah. Before my mom disappeared, she'd use to take me out to visit him every other weekend, because she knew I liked to visit him. After that I'd save up my money to take a bus to the city and then a taxi out to where he lived. My Dad never did like to visit him. He and Azula always thought he was kooky and he is a little bit, but it's better than those two. Then I was so excited when I got my license to drive. I could drive out to visit him all the time." Zuko explained.

"So when was the last time you went to visit him?" Suki asked.

"Probably a couple of weekends ago. Mai went with me." Zuko explained.

"We went miniature golfing." Mai told them.

"My uncle's idea." Zuko rolled his eyes. Katara sniggered.

"What'd you score, Zuko?" Aang asked.

"Actually he did the best out of all of us. Scored a hole in one on the windmill hole." Mai said, proudly.

"That's amazing." Toph rolled her eyes.

"I just went so I could get a snow cone afterwards at their little indoor arcade." Zuko growled.

"A snow cone?" Sokka smirked.

"Yeah, like a flavored ice?" Zuko explained.

"I know what they are!" Sokka exclaimed, "But you like snow cones?"

"Yeah, my mom used to take me to the park and get me them all the time. I like them, it reminds me of her." Zuko defended himself.

"Oh," Sokka shifted around feeling very uncomfortable.

"TOPH!?" There was a scream from the house next door. "TOPH!?"

"Oh, shit." Toph cursed. "Damn it, they never check on me after I go to bed! Now they think I've been kidnapped!" Toph stood up. "I'm over at the neighbors house! I haven't gone anywhere, honestly Mom!" Toph screamed. She started up over the edge of the hot tub but it was slippery and her foot caught on the ledge and Toph tripped and fell straight onto the deck with a sickening crack.

"Toph!" they all screamed. Her parents just then came out on their deck.

"Ouch…" she groaned as she slowly tried to sit up. Sokka hurried out of the hot tub, making sure not to make the same mistake. He turned on all the lights around the deck. There was already a bruise starting to form and it was starting to swell.

"What's going on?" Gran came out.

"Are you okay, Toph?" Sokka asked.

"OBVIOUSLY NOT! LOOK AT MY ANKLE!" Toph screamed at them.

"It might be sprained or broken. Does it hurt when I touch it?" Suki asked as she lightly toughed it.

"OUCH! Yes!" Toph yelled. Toph's parents came down to the deck.

"Oh, my poor baby! What happened?" her mother asked.

"She was trying to get out and she fell." Katara told them honestly.

"She should have never been out in the first place," her father said sternly.

"You keep me locked up and I never get to see my friends—!" Toph started.

"Look! We don't need arguing." Aang yelled.

"He's right." Zuko agreed.

"If her ankle really is broken, we need to get her to the hospital to get X-rays. Can you get up to walk?" her father asked. They helped Toph get up as she gingerly put her foot down.

"Ouch. Ouch. Ouch." Toph groaned. At last her dad picked her up and got her to the car.

"I hope your okay, Toph!" Katara shouted after her.

"Well, that was enough excitement for tonight. I'm getting inside, getting changed and going home." Mai sighed.

"Me too." Suki agreed.

"I'll call my Uncle to tell him the party's kind of over." Aang grinned sheepishly at Katara.


	15. Bowling Night

How long has it been since I updated this one? A year? But when I always get asked to continue my stories I always get asked to continue this one. So I couldn't just end it. But it was funny, I thought I'd have such a difficult time with it and I just sat down and started typing and I couldn't stop for like an hour. I started writing this at like two in the morning the night after I had updated 'What's a DVD' my other popular fanfiction and the story just poured out. Like somehow it's easier to write at the early hours of the morning.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it. I hope I haven't taken such a long break that my writing is so bad and the story is so different than what was. But I tried to go back to my roots and I reread some older chapters and I was like…oh yeah. I remember this stuff.

And this is nice and long. Yayz…

**Aang: **Looky this fanfiction is back too? We aren't owned here either are we?

**oOo**

"Hey, Katara."

"What?"

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"Do you want to know?"

"Yes, Zuko. I want to know."

"Are you sure?"

"YES, ZUKO."

They were in Sokka's car on a Friday afternoon driving home after the final bell. Aang was in the front seat next to Sokka and Zuko, Toph, and Katara were squished in the back. For some reason Zuko always rode with them and no longer drove his own car. The crutches that now accompanied Toph took up even more room as they lay across the floor. Her ankle had not been broken only severely sprained. She'd need crutches to get around the school only for the next week or two. She insisted she only needed to bandage it. But her parents wanted her off of the ankle. It was either crutches or a wheelchair. Toph was not sitting in a chair for the next two weeks. Not that wheelchairs were bad. Teo was in a wheelchair, but she wanted two feet on the ground. Being blind and in a wheelchair was too much for her. Zuko got the middle as Toph stared blindly out the window.

"You _really _want to know?"

"_Zuko!"_

"I'm bored."

"You're WHAT!?"

"Jeez, I'm going to get in an accident! I swear I don't know how I signed up for this." Sokka groaned.

"I am not entertained and I shall not be tonight. Entertain me." Zuko demanded.

"You better not be…" Katara eyed him.

"Not that kind of entertainment!" Zuko made faces. Sokka and Aang whipped around and hit their heads together.

"WHAT?"

"Sokka concentrate on driving, please." Katara nagged him.

"Yes, ma'am." Sokka put on his left indicator as he sat at the light. He was sitting in the turn lane and forgot to turn it on. Katara would only nag him more about his turn signal if he didn't put it on.

"Mai is doing some stupid thing with her parents. So I'm bored and I will be for the rest of the night and you're my only form of entertainment, my lovely whore!" Zuko threw his arms around her. Katara grumbled something about Sokka and Aang could entertain him.

"What you don't like whore now? Can't handle the change? Okay, I'll go back to bitch. Unless you like slut." Zuko went through his list of names for Katara.

"Can you not talk like that about Katara around me?" Aang asked quietly from the front seat.

"Yeah, you'll hurt his little angelic ears. He can't handle his girlfriend being called things like that." Toph laughed.

"I obviously need to rough him up a little bit. He's been a little pansy for too long." Zuko shrugged.

"That's okay. No roughing up please. Pansy's okay for me." Aang refused his offer.

"You do know pansy is a _bad_ thing, right?" Zuko asked.

"C'mon, Zuko. Aang's fine the way he is. If anything, you need to tone it down a bit." Katara told him.

"There's nothing to tone down. I'm Zuko." Zuko told her.

"You egotistical—"

"I'm enforcing a no talking rule. Who ever talks gets thrown out of the car. Seriously, I will pull over and kick you out and you _will _walk home. You know what? I'm not even going to pull the car over. Your being kicked out and I'm not stopping the car or slowing down for that matter." Sokka told them, tired of the bickering. Zuko started to strangle Katara, who slapped him and elbowed him in the chest, just to see if they could get away with it. Then he pulled her hair as she punched him in the stomach.

"No touching either." Sokka told them as he unlocked the doors as if he were about to make them jump out.

It was a surprisingly quiet the rest of the way home.

"Ah, home sweet home." Sokka slammed his car door.

"So what are we doing tonight to entertain Zuko?" Zuko asked in the third person.

Katara found a rubberband in the crack of Sokka's car seat.

"Katara will give Zuko a rubberband to play with for the rest of the night." Katara replied also in the third person as she followed Aang inside.

"What? Seriously." Zuko whined.

"Oh, I don't know!" Katara whined in the same voice.

"Bowling!" Sokka exclaimed as both of them reached the kitchen.

"Sokka we haven't been bowling since your fifth birthday party." Katara rolled her eyes. "Remember the one where you practically invited everyone in the school and we had like five lanes to ourselves and you kept never letting go of the bowling ball so you would go with it." Katara reminded him.

"Was I there?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah, sadly." Katara rolled her eyes. "You ate the whole cake before we got to it."

"I remember now. That was good cake…" Zuko reminisced.

"Yeah, but you ruined my birthday. You know I am _emotionally scarred_ from that day." Sokka exclaimed.

"Okay, whatever. Who remembers when they're five anyway?"

"I do when some meany face eats my cake!"

"Meany face? Who are you calling a meany face?" Zuko asked, threateningly.

"I am!"

"Alright, can we stop? Why did you say bowling anyway?" Katara asked.

"There was a two for one coupon in the newspaper." Sokka pointed to the newspaper spread over the table.

"Would that keep you entertained Zuko?" Katara asked handing him the coupon.

"Gee, it would, but who would I take?" Zuko wondered allowed. "It says valid only with the purchase of…" Zuko paused and looked around the room to count. "…four or more in your party."

"Wait are you including yourself or did you leave Toph out?" Sokka asked suspiciously.

"Why do you automatically suspect its Toph? Maybe I'm leaving you out!" Zuko accused him.

"I can't go anyway. Can't bowl on a leg like this." Toph told them. "Invite me when you're doing something sprain friendly."

"You can still watch." Zuko shrugged.

"Watch?" Toph asked raising her eyebrows.

"Er…listen. Take in the atmosphere."

"Because I'd want to take in an atmosphere like that. I hardly doubt my Dad will want me to go, not after this." Toph motioned to her ankle.

"I'll talk to him." Zuko offered.

"Psh, okay…" Toph shrugged. "I warned you."

"Where's the phone?" Zuko asked.

"We live next door." Toph told him.

"Oh," it dawned on Zuko he had to talk to the man face to face.

"Not so tough?" Katara asked.

"Yes! I just didn't realize I had to talk to him that way! It'll be fine!" Zuko puffed out his chest "Let's go, little blind girl!" Zuko led the way.

"My name is Toph, apart of the Bei Fong family." Toph informed him as they continued next door. Katara, Aang and Sokka watched ravenously from their porch next door.

"Right," Zuko nodded. He knocked firmly on the door. Her father answered the door. "Hello, Mr. Gay Thong…"

"BEI FONG."

"My friends and I will be partaking in certain extracurricular activities we would like her to partake. I realize she is injured and I can guarantee she won't be hurt any further. For she shall be watching from the sidelines." Zuko explained.

"I can't watch, idiot!"

"She will enjoy the uh…partaking of the atmosphere?" Zuko tried to continue speaking in his fancy language, though it hardly made sense.

"That makes no sense." Toph growled at him. "Dad, we're going bowling and I want to hang out with my friends." Toph continued to her father.

"Certainly not. Not with his crowd." Mr. Bei Fong exclaimed. "He was there when you sprained your ankle. I can't trust them again." They completely ignored Zuko.

"Look, dude. Your daughter wants to come and she's not gonna get hurt. It's called having friends and having fun." Zuko explained dropping the act.

"Did you call me dude?"

"Bye, _dude._" Zuko helped her towards the car. He waved towards the other three to join them.

"You can't do that! I didn't allow you to! Bring her back here!" Mr. Bei Fong shouted as Sokka put the key in the ignition and pulled out of the drive.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Sokka asked as he left the street put the car in drive and drove forward.

"What do you mean?" Zuko asked.

"I mean we just kinda took Toph with out his saying so." Aang told him.

"But I said so!" Toph exclaimed.

"Okay…" Katara sighed.

**xOx**

Upon arriving at the bowling alley they reserved a lane, and got their wonderful smelly brightly colored neon bowling shoes. Katara and Sokka worked at the computer to set up the game.

"Make sure I go first." Zuko told them.

"Of course, Lord Zuko." Katara mocked him without lifting her eyes from the screen.

"Let's see, I don't want it too heavy…" Aang was looking at the bowling balls on the wrack. "Maybe a seven-pound?"

An eight year old walked up next to him and pulled off a nine-pound ball with ease.

"Pansy…" Zuko coughed into Aang's ear. "Look I can handle a sixteen pound ball easy!" Zuko grabbed a reddish ball with a swirl pattern. It was obviously more than Zuko had expected.

"See?" Zuko asked, messaging the arm that had nearly been pulled out of its socket.

"Okay…" Aang picked up his neon pink seven-pound ball to go put it in their ball return.

"Hey, Aang grab me a ball. Nine-pounds is all I can handle." Katara called.

"Your girlfriend can bowl with a heavier ball than you." Zuko snickered.

"Zuko, grab me one too. At least fourteen pounds!" Sokka puffed out his chest.

"You're not impressing anyone Sokka. We all know you're a wimp." Toph laughed.

"Okay, maybe twelve." Sokka shrugged. Toph raised her eyebrows in his direction.

"Eleven." Sokka decided.

"Okay, I'm glad the one person here who isn't playing had to tell you what ball to bowl with." Zuko grabbed the second ball for Sokka.

"There!" Katara finished the set up for the scoring on the screen above them. It only displayed the first four letters of their names. _Aang, Kata, Sokk, _and _Zuzu._

"ZUZU!? You had to give me _Zuzu??_" Zuko looked outraged at Katara.

"Do you know my emotional connections to that nickname?" Zuko growled at the two of them.

"What are you going to go insane and kill us all in our sleep now? Or maybe just kill us now?" Sokka asked. "We all know you're not _that_ far off the emotional deep end."

"You never know if something like this could put me there." Zuko growled.

"Are you guys going to play or what?" Toph asked them.

"Yes, and your pathetic asses are going down." Zuko hissed at them.

"Aang, your first." Katara reminded him.

"Yeah," Aang grabbed the lightest ball. He found the finger holes and walked to the line before the lane. Aang took aim and let the ball go down the lane. It knocked over nine of the ten pins.

"No, way." Sokka's mouth hung open.

"Just luck." Zuko growled.

"Oh, my god, Aang! I didn't know you were good at this!" Katara shouted.

"What happened?" Toph asked. She had a feeling this was going to be a long night everything would have to be explained to her in a play-by-play. Usually she would be able to tell what was going on but there were to many lanes being played to tell which one was theirs. And her sprained foot wasn't helping her sense what was where.

"Aang just knocked all of them down but one." Katara explained.

"Go again!" Sokka reminded him. Aang found the brightly colored ball in the ball return. He lined it up again; the ball flew down the lane and hit the pin. A cheesy animation flashed on the screen and it flashed spare. Katara kissed him on the cheek as his face went as pink as his bowling ball.

"I never knew you were this good!" Katara laughed.

"You mean I didn't show off to you at Sokka's party?" Aang asked.

"Well, we were all five and had no bowling skills except hit a pin or two because of the bumpers." Katara rolled her eyes.

"I do bowl with Gyatso some…" Aang scratched his head. "He goes bowling sometimes."

"Will you go already? This game will take forever!" Zuko growled. Katara rolled her eyes as she picked up the blue ball Aang had picked up for her. It had the same swirly pattern as Zuko's. She stood back a few paces, lined it up, then walked forward briskly bringing back her arm, then with the same motion swinging it forward and releasing it. It spun down the lane and at the very end it went to the gutter.

"Well, not the exact talent as Aang." Zuko sneered.

"Shut up." Katara growled as Sokka sat on the chairs behind the table at their lane telling Toph what was going on as it happened.

Katara went through the same movements except this time it hit the left three pins.

"Go, Sokk." Katara referred to his bowling scoring abbreviated name.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Sokka swung out of the chair and picked up a neon yellow ball. He walked towards the lane and swung his arm hardly taking aim and throwing it so far it landed almost halfway down the aisle. It then rolled slowly into the right gutter.

"This time not so insane. It looks as if you haven't picked up any experience since you were five." Zuko commented. This time Aang was back behind the table talking to Toph.

"How can I have, if I haven't bowled since then?" Sokka retorted. He picked up the ball from the return and walked back towards the lane. More seriously this time he swung his arm and it landed right in front of him, taking off, this time to the left gutter.

"Zero points for Sokka." Katara made a zero with her hands and held it above her head.

"Go, Zuzu." Sokka called to Zuko.

"Don't call me that!" Zuko growled as he headed towards his heavy sixteen-pound ruby colored ball. He stood in front of the aisle and lined up the roll. It almost looked as if he was measuring and it took long enough too. The length. The angle. Katara wouldn't be surprised if he took out a measuring tape, protractor and a compass to predict the exact movement of the ball down the aisle.

"Hurry up, Zuko!" Katara called. Just as he brought his arm back a loud voice called: "Are you Zuko?"

Zuko dropped the extremely heavy ball on his foot and cursed.

"Yeah, what do you want?!" he whipped around to see a badge. It was a policeman.

"I'm Officer Xin Fu. Do you have a Toph Bei Fong with you?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's me!" Toph stood up and got on her crutches.

"Do you realize you could be charged with kidnapping?" The officer asked.

"I—What?" Zuko's eyes bugged out of his head.

"No, he can't! I wanted to go!" Toph exclaimed.

"Your father said he took you forcefully and you have a reported missing person with you." The officer reported.

"You can't be serious. He reported me as missing? I wasn't missing, I told him where I was going! Can't you just report I was missing because I ran away from home?" Toph asked.

"Toph, don't do that." Zuko hissed.

"I do it all the time." Toph replied.

"Well, I can bring you both in. Call to tell your father you're all right, and you for helping her escape under a charge of kidnapping. Does that seem fair?" he asked.

"No! I didn't kidnap her! Kidnapping is like sneaking into some kids room, tying them up and bringing them somewhere for ransom or raping and killing them." Zuko shrugged his shoulders. "She wanted to go! How can that be kidnapping?"

"Sorry, son. Even if that's true you can still be charged for assisting her." Officer Xin Fu tapped his notes.

"Are you three involved in this?" Officer Xin Fu asked Katara, Sokka and Aang.

"No!" they hastily replied.

"Now if you aren't violent, and are nice little kids we can make this an enjoyable ride to the station. If you make this hard for me the cuffs go on." The officer told them in a false sweet voice.

Officer Xin Fu led Zuko and Toph outside to the car waiting. People had been staring; obviously they had been making a scene.

"Don't worry. If my Dad really does press charges, I'll stand witness." Toph whispered. "So will Aang, Katara and Sokka."

"Yeah, yeah." Zuko growled.

They drove for five minutes in the back of the officer's car. When they arrived the officer led them inside.

"Officer Xin Fu, you found them?" one policeman asked.

"Yes, they were right where Mr. Bei Fong said. The bowling alley. Get him on the line and tell him we found her." the officer told the other.

"Yes, sir."

In another moment Toph was talking to her parents on the phone. She was angry. Really angry.

"I can't believe you'd have Zuko arrested! You better not press charges. He's my friend! How could you do this?" Toph screamed. "Yes, _father_." Toph started to calm down. "Of course. Uh-huh. Bye."

"What'd he say?" Zuko asked.

"He's gonna come pick me up. He didn't say if he was going to press charges or not." Toph sighed.

"What about me?" Zuko asked. "Am I seriously going to be locked up? Like is this serious? Do I get one phone call to see if anyone will bail me out?" Zuko chased information around in his head. Mai would come. Her Dad was rich. He could get money from her.

"We'll see what Mr. Bei Fong says when he arrives." Xin Fu said. Toph and Zuko sat in the police station for another ten minutes before Mr. Bei Fong and Mrs. Bei Fong showed up.

"Oh, thank goodness you're alright, Toph!" Mrs. Bei Fong.

"Mrs. Toph's Mom," Zuko had forgotten their surname by now, so much had been floating around in his head. "I'm not a brutal kidnapper. I didn't intend on this. I only wanted Toph to come with us to have fun." Zuko explained.

"But you took her out after I said no." Mr. Bei Fong growled.

"Because you never let her go anywhere!" Zuko shouted.

"We do keep her locked up at home quite a lot." Toph's mother agreed.

"See?" Zuko was relieved one of her parents agreed. "Please, don't press charges. I'm not even talking to my family now and I couldn't handle going to court for something stupid like that." Zuko begged.

"That's why you have such poor moral's." Toph's father shook his head. "We won't press charges this time."

"Thank you," Zuko bowed his head in thankfulness.

"But stay away from our daughter. I don't want you near her. If I must, I will get a restraining order." Mr. Bei Fong ordered him.

"But—"

"Dad!" Toph exclaimed.

"That's a little harsh, dear." Mrs. Bei Fong agreed.

"We're leaving." Mr. Bei Fong turned and led his family out the door. Toph was the last to leave on her crutches. She gave a small wave to Zuko.

"Alright." the officer said. "It looks like you're free to go then."

"Can I at least call my ride?" Zuko asked.

"Yes, the phone is over there."

Zuko picked up the phone and punched in Sokka's phone number, which was the first one he remembered.

"Dude, what the hell happened? If this is your one phone call you get before they put you in the slammer, I'm not going to be much help. DUDE, AANG. ANOTHER STRIKE! Katara, stop that! That's highly inappropriate in a public place!" Sokka shouted to the two in the background.

"So you're still bowling? After I was almost arrested?" Zuko asked.

"We paid for the game. We took turns bowling your frames." Sokka replied.

"Whatever. Just get over here. I need a ride. They let me go." Zuko told him.

"Yeah, okay. We all have one more frame and we'll be right there." Sokka promised. And then he hung up. The dial tone sounded from the phone.

After another twenty minutes of waiting they finally arrived.

"About time." Zuko jumped in the back seat. He had started to feel edgy in the police station when the officers started to talk to him.

"Sorry. It took a while to return the bowling shoes." Katara shrugged.

"Shit. I still have them on." Zuko growled. "They pulled me out of there so fast I couldn't return them or grab my other shoes!"

"We grabbed your other shoes." Aang assured him displaying his decaying All-Star Converse.

"Ah, they don't need those shoes. What's one pair of bowling shoes in hundreds? Besides that'll be a story to tell." Sokka shrugged. "Well, I got these shoes when I was wrongfully arrested…"

"So what? Was Toph picked up by her parents?" Katara asked.

"Duh, would they ever let her go with her supposed kidnapper?" Zuko questioned her.

"I suppose not." Katara sighed.

"Well, anyway, it was one hell of a bowling night." Zuko groaned.

**xXx**

Nothing like bringing in those random miscellaneous secondary characters.

Maybe I'll have them do other random recreational things such as mini golf…or it's just going to get repetitive. Ah, I hope I did this chapter okay. I obviously haven't been to jail or watched many cop shows so I don't exactly know what happen when your brought in.

Ah, Zuko and Toph-ish chapter…inspired by the 'Ember Island Players' TophxZuko bonding moment. And the TophxZuko-ish part in Part 2 (maybe?) of the finale where Toph and Zuko share their field trip together. Those two amuse me. BTW, amazing finale everyone, right? :D


	16. Surprise!

AH! I finally got this up! This update took soo long to write. Like seriously. I COULDN'T find a stopping point. I felt as if I were going to write forever. But I had to stop at some point before I was going to reach like thirty pages!

I share my excuses with my other fic. I had a third cousin in town and staying for a week and I couldn't get any writing in. School's started. GUH. Maybe it'll just help spur story ideas for this fic. Like last year totally helped any…so has it been a year in my fanfiction? No, obviously not…cause I took a hiatus for so long!! I did a Thanksgiving and Christmas chapter already…Okay. I should figure out a timeline soon...Right. I'm not ranting on and on here. Just enjoy and I don't own Avatar.

**xOx**

12-3-22, she opened her locker.

Katara sighed. It had been one of the worst birthdays ever, Katara reflected as she stored her books in her locker and got out the other ones that she wanted to go home. She had failed her math quiz, forgotten her lunch, tripped _up _the stairs and had a pop quiz in her English class. Katara had thought it would be a good day that morning. It was her sixteenth birthday. She had seen Aang early that morning before class and he had given her a small bouquet of flowers to celebrate. But that was the only time she had seen him. Her brother thought it would be funny to give her a giant balloon to carry around to all of her classes, (that helped contribute to her misadventure on the stairs).

"Hey Birthday Girl. Big one-six." Toph came up behind her to get her books out of their locker. She was still on crutches, but managed to get around the school. Mainly she just used it for an excuse for being late to class. "Ugh, it hasn't been that great so far." Katara told her.

"I'm sure it'll get better." Toph didn't ask any further.

"Yeah…" Katara sighed.

"Hey, is it alright if I catch a ride with you and Sokka again? I don't want to risk…bumping my ankle on that crowded bus." Toph sighed theatrically.

"You're being such a Drama Queen." Katara rolled her eyes.

"I'm a good actress, right?" she laughed.

"Yeah, we'll have to go find him." Katara slung her bag on her shoulder. They started towards her brother's locker.

"So Zuko didn't ride with you to school today?" Toph asked.

"No, I don't think he wanted to put up with all the birthday crap, so he _actually_ drove his own car." Katara rolled her eyes. She was still clinging on to hope that it was only a few days fad and he'd grow up and decide to leave.

When they found Sokka, Aang had finished up putting his books in his bag and waved to them as he took off in the opposite direction.

"Aang, wait!" Katara picked up her pace and chased after him. He was out of sight before she could come close. "Where did Aang go!?" Katara demanded.

"He didn't want to miss the bus." Sokka shrugged.

"I haven't gotten to talk to him all day today, and he raced off half way through lunch yesterday. Today's, my birthday, too. You think he could have stayed to talk. We could have drove him home or he could have come home with us. We haven't even made dinner plans! He said he was busy tonight, but he promised we'd go out another night to celebrate." Katara rambled to relieve her feelings.

"I'm sure you'll be able to talk to him tonight." Sokka told her. Toph pretended to trip over him as she moved to his other side.

"Ouch! I'm sure he'll call you after whatever he has planned." Sokka glared at the blind fiend.

"Yeah, I hope." Katara sighed.

Once they returned home, Toph walked back to her house.

"I'll see you guys later, okay?!" she called.

"If your parents will let you." Katara replied remembering that weekends antics which almost got Zuko thrown in jail.

"They will, trust me. It's your birthday." Toph grinned.

"Right!" Sokka waved. "See you!"

"Let's go, I just want to get this birthday over with. Maybe if I'm lucky Zuko got me a present." Katara added on sarcastically.

Katara sat on her bed finishing up her math homework. She finished it off by adding her name, date and period and then put the book and assignment back in her bag.

"Hope I didn't fail that." Katara breathed. Sokka came in to her room. "Hey, has Zuko come home yet?" she asked, before Sokka could get out what he wanted to say.

"No," he replied shortly.  
"Maybe he's gone for good!" Katara caustically exclaimed as she rolled onto her back.

"Don't get your hopes up, his stuff is still here." Sokka told her.

"Damn it…" she groaned.

"But I wanted to tell you to go get in my car," Sokka nodded outside. "I got somewhere to go, maybe for your birthday…"

"Really? You're going to take me somewhere?" Katara asked. Her mind was racing. Was he going to take her to a nice dinner since it was her sixteenth? It would be a little awkward, but she wouldn't mind. Maybe she was going somewhere to pick out a gift. A big gift she'd have to pick out herself. The thoughts of a new car were racing through her head. They couldn't afford a new car…maybe Sokka had found a used one she'd like.

"Okay…" she got up and grabbed her purse and jacket, as they went downstairs and left. She got into her brothers car and clicked her seatbelt.

"Before we go…we got to blindfold you." Sokka told her as he got something out to shield her eyes.

"What!? I'm not being blindfolded like a hostage or something. I'll close my eyes." Katara told him.

"You'll peek." Sokka glared at her.

"Do you think I'd cheat my own present!?" Katara snapped.

"Alright, alright. We're wasting time." Sokka pulled out of the driveway and Katara closed her eyes. In her mind she tired to keep track of the turns they were taking, but became too complicated. As soon she felt as if she was going to drift off, she felt the car slow and stop.

"Can I open my eyes?" she asked.

"No, not yet!" Sokka giddily exclaimed. She sighed, embarrassingly. If they were in public she hoped he wasn't making too much of a humiliating scene. She heard the car door open as Sokka led her out of the car and cover her eyes as he led her forward.

"Step up," he led. "And stop." She heard a door open.

"And open."

This wasn't her brother's voice.

"Aang!"

"_Surprise!"_

As she looked around she realized it wasn't only Aang, but Toph as well as Zuko and Mai. Teo was there too, with Haru. Suki grinned at her and then sent a sweet smile directed towards Sokka.

"Aang y-you had plans tonight!" Katara exclaimed still in so much shock she wasn't exactly connecting things.

"Plans with you."

"So you put this all together?" Katara asked excitedly.

"With a little help from me and Toph." Sokka grinned, throwing his arm around the blind girl's shoulder.

"Don't you mean 'Toph and I'?" Toph asked.

"Are we in school? Who cares?" Sokka told her blatantly.

"You are so sweet!" Katara threw her arms around him, knocking the wind out of him almost knocking him over.

"Don't knock the kid unconscious. He just gave you a birthday party." Zuko told her. As Aang recovered and Katara stood up straight she asked, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I can't go anywhere without being accused of breathing!" Zuko exclaimed, strenuously. Katara glared at him.

"Alright, I had nothing better to do."

"You never have _anything_ better to do!"

"I present my life story." Zuko bowed.

"Your life isn't that bad, Zuko." Mai offered.

"Well, the party isn't on the doorstep." Aang dragged her inside. It was decorated in all of her favorite colors, with ribbons wrapped around the banister. Plus, there were balloons, so many, Katara couldn't count. Appa ran up to Katara and almost tackled her licking her hands and face.

"Appa!" Aang shouted at his dog.

"Oh, Appa! Did you help too?" Katara laughed. Appa barked at her with another happy lick. "Oh, did he help. He popped like half of the balloons and kept trying to eat the ribbon. And all the food? He kept trying to eat anything we'd drop and sometimes it didn't even have to be on the floor!" Aang exclaimed. It certainly didn't look like there were any balloons missing. If there were any more, there wouldn't be room for a party. Perhaps Appa was trying to help in a sense.

"Hey, Katara! Did you see the cake yet?" Zuko shouted.

"What? No!" Katara ran towards the kitchen. Aang followed with an embarrassed look on his face. When Katara reached the kitchen she was sort of confused. "Is this it?" Katara asked.

"Yep. Homemade. Well, Aang and Gyatso made it I helped with the frosting. They made one of their fruit filled cake things, but I perfected it with the frosting." Sokka explained.

"You see, when we were deciding what should be put on the cake Sokka just decided to put his own message on there, but Aang didn't like it. It said something like _Happy birthday, Katara. Love, Aang._ Or probably something else really stupid.

"Oh, yeah it was way more stupid." Aang nodded his head not wanting to share.

"So Aang didn't want it to say what it said…I can't even remember what it was…so he frosted over that. But then I decided it looked lopsided and frosted over the other half of the cake, which made it look worse. In the end it just ended up looking like this." Zuko tried to explain. Katara stared at the monster in front of her. She wasn't even sure if there was a cake underneath it, much less if it was edible. Frosting completely took over the cake making it look like it was at least six inches taller than it actually was. So many colors of frosting ran together, she wasn't sure what it originally was supposed to be but now it looked like a gross brown. Not even chocolate brown. A _gross_ brown.

"It's the thought that counts?" Katara scratched her head. "Aw, I messed up Katara! This should have been the best darn cake ever and it turned out like this just cause I didn't want it to say something stupid on it." Aang mentally kicked himself.

"It's fine Aang! I still love that you made me this cake!" Katara kissed his cheek.

"I promise I'll make you a new one and we can eat it next weekend or something!" Aang promised.

"That sounds great, Aang." Katara smiled.

"See, if I ever did something like that, Mai would probably just throw the thing in my face and tell me I failed at life or something." Zuko sighed, envious of all the sympathy Aang received for their inedible frosting cake of doom.

"What about Mai?" Mai joined the conversation once she heard her name.

"I said, we should make a cake or something. It was fun to play with the frosting." Zuko easily covered for the slip up.

"You bring the EasyBake oven." Mai told him with a serious face on and walked away to go find a more entertaining conversation.

"I TOLD YOU IT WAS AZULA'S! I NEVER ONCE TOUCHED THAT EASYBAKE OVEN!" Zuko screamed at her. The whole party turned to look at him.

"OKAY, IT WAS ONCE IN THE FOURTH GRADE! I WAS HUNGRY AND I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO WORK THE REAL OVEN AND I HAD SEEN HOW AZULA USED IT!" Zuko yelled at the room of people staring at him.

"And just to let everyone know, I've known Azula since kindergarten and I _know_ she would never own something like an EasyBake oven." Mai announced to the room.

"OKAY! SO IT WAS MINE! MY MOM PROMISED ME SHE'D TEACH ME HOW TO BAKE ON ONE! AND IT WAS REALLY GOOD AND I KNOW HOW TO BAKE NOW! SO THERE!" Zuko admitted. The room already tittering with giggles exploded with laughter.

"_Dude! _You had one of those? Those are like little girl toys. Katara had one and she played with it all the time!" Sokka laughed.

"Well, I hope she never shared any of the sugar cookies or angels food cakes with you!" Zuko growled at him.

"You can't really learn out to bake on one of those things you just like put in the powder and milk and put it in the oven." Katara came over to join the entertaining conversation.

"What's an EasyBake oven?" Aang asked.

"You mean even little pansy Aang has never heard of an EasyBake!? I'd figure you were one of the first to get one." Zuko pulled his hair out in frustration as Katara kindly explained the workings of the toy oven. "I'm going to get something to eat."

"Something you made with your EasyBake?" Sokka laughed.

"SHUT UP!" Zuko made his way into the kitchen. He found some of the chips that had been put out and looked around the kitchen. Aang's uncle was making polite conversation with Toph's parent's and as Toph stood quietly near them obediently

"Uhh, dude. What's with the parents? And why are you over here in the boring old section of the party?" Zuko whispered, not wanting to disturb the conversation taking place.

"This was the only way I could come since what happened last weekend." Toph replied.

"Boring." Zuko sighed. "Tell them you have to go to the bathroom and come join the party. Seriously there's no point in coming to a party if you're not _at _the party." Zuko explained he left the kitchen and winked at her.

"Where have you been, Mr. EasyBake?" Mai asked as he returned and she grabbed on of the chips out of the handful he had grabbed. Zuko rolled his eyes at her nickname.

"I got another partier." Zuko explained as Toph joined their conversation.

"Alright!" Zuko grinned.

"Yeah, it'll work for about five minutes and then they'll come looking for me!" Toph laughed.

"It's five minutes you can enjoy out here and not with their stupid conversation. Plus, they'll probably forget about you. You know how adults get when they talk."

"Well, in five minutes we'll go eat dinner and then we'll all be eating dinner so it won't matter then. Then you'll be opening presents and we'll all still be in the same room. Then we'll eat that messed up cake…" Aang explained.

"Or…y'know 'eat' it. Where we get a piece and pretend to eat it and say it's so good but too rich and throw it out." Zuko told him.

"You didn't have to say that to the person who made it!" Aang defended his cake. "Hey, I helped too." Zuko shrugged.

"It really shouldn't be that bad if you can scrape off all the frosting right?" Toph asked.

"Yeah!" Aang agreed with Toph's solution.

"Look, there's your parents." Zuko warned Toph.

"DINNER TIME!" Sokka shouted. They lined up the huge buffet as Aang and his Uncle scrambled to get the food together, since they weren't ready for dinner yet. Pizzas that were still coming out of the oven were still being cut as everyone crowded around the table and grabbed plates. Zuko kept trying to grab whole pizzas at a time and getting his hand burned by the freshly baked pizzas.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF THE PIZZA ZUKO!" Katara screamed. "PEOPLE ACTUALLY WANT TO EAT THAT!"

Eventually they were straightened out and people were able to grab their own slices. Zuko was the one with the most pizza; he had gotten two slices from every pizza, which equaled ten. They got drinks from the seven different two-liter soda bottles and sat down at the extremely long table made of card tables put together and folding chairs. It was a game musical chairs trying to sit down. Of course Katara sat at the head of the table and Aang sat to her right. (Plenty of jokes were made about Aang being Katara's right-hand man.) Sokka and Zuko made a race for the chair left of Katara almost spilling drinks and Zuko's pile o' pizza.

"Move, idiot! I'm her brother!"

"Well…I'm special!"

"Yeah, you are special!"

"I think Katara chooses!" Zuko decided. "Choose well."

"Sokka's my brother. Go sit next to your EasyBake girlfriend." Katara told him.

"What the hell? I have nothing to do with the EasyBake story." Mai chose the seat next to Zuko, as Zuko sat next to Aang.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Toph hissed as she shoved her plate in between Aang and Zuko and shoved a folding chair in between the two.

"SORRY MOM AND DAD! Chairs are already full!" Toph called. "Phew."

"What was that all about?" Suki asked from the chair next to Sokka.

"Eh, parents. They were trying to sit next to me." Toph shrugged as she grabbed her first slice. "But I'm safe between my boys." Toph said with a mouth full of pizza. She put down the pizza and put her arms around Aang and Zuko.

"What about me? I'm one of your boys right?" Sokka asked desperately as if it were an important gang that he wasn't apart of.

"Mm…I don't know if you qualify." Toph stroked her chin thoughtfully.

"You'll always be one of my boys." Suki grinned as she kissed his cheek.

"Wait, you have other boys!?" Sokka asked, now panicked.

"No, Sokka—"

"Oh, God! Suki! Where have I gone wrong!? I've always been good to you right!? RIGHT!?" Sokka stood up.

"Sokka, just sit down." Suki pulled him back down to his chair.

"Alright." Sokka kissed her back on her cheek, admitting it was just a joke.

They finished with dinner and Aang went around with a garbage bag and cleaned up any of the trash.

"Go, help him." Katara hissed to Sokka. He just shrugged lazily.

"You go help." Katara turned to Zuko.

"Why…?" Zuko asked.

"Because for dessert you can sit in this chair." Katara told him as she pointed to Sokka's chair.

"Okay!" Zuko jumped to his feet.

"What!?" Sokka gasped.

"Well, you wouldn't help." Katara shrugged. She glanced to the kitchen to see Zuko eagerly ask Gyatso for a trash bag to help Aang.

"And I'll pick up all the trash during the presents!" Zuko volunteered.

"How do you get him to stop being a lazy ass?" Mai asked Katara, the miracle worker.

"I dunno. It's easy once you know how to push his buttons." Katara laughed.

Once the trash was picked up they went into the main room and Aang started to move the presents from the table they were sitting on to where Katara was sitting on. Zuko eyed Aang doing this and he started doing it as well, but faster. Aang speeded up as well. Sokka rolled his eyes.

"BOYS! STOP! YOU'RE GOING TO BREAK MY PRESENTS!" Katara yelled at them. They both glared at each other. Thankfully, there were two more gifts to move. If there was only one left, Katara feared for the condition of her gifts. As the two sat down, they started to bicker over who's she'd open first.

"I'm not going to open any of them, if you two don't shut up!" Katara growled rubbing her temples.

"God, are you two teenage boys or two hissing, spitting cats?" Toph sighed. Katara started to open her presents. She got some ugly looking sweaters from Gran. She got an amusing birthday card in Braille from Toph. Everyone kept trying to figure out what it said. Toph was the only one who knew and she wasn't about to tell.

"What's the point of getting a birthday card you can't read?" Mai asked as she passed it on to the next person to look at.

"No one ever looks at their cards again anyway. So I thought it'd be amusing." Toph shrugged. With that card Katara got a new CD from Toph. From Suki she got a giftcard for her favorite place to shop. Zuko gave her another diary. This one seemed to have heavier locks.

"What is this?" Katara looked at him questioningly.

"Eh, your old diary is way to easy to get into. You need a new one that has an actual working key. That old one you have…yeah. A five year old could pick it." Zuko shrugged.

"YOU'VE READ MY DIARY!?" Katara roared.

"I'm really doing you a favor here." Zuko shrugged.

"Oh, yeah. I can agree. That lock is horrible. Still, it was fun to steal the key from Katara and sneak it back." Sokka snickered.

"You're all horrible!" Katara growled.

"Remember Katara! That diary-stealing helped me gain confidence to ask you out!" Aang reminded her.

"Alright, alright." Katara rolled her eyes.

"Well, go ahead and open Aang's present and then you can open your big gift!" Sokka announced.

"Oh, my god." Katara gasped. "You got me a car!" Katara squealed.

"Uhm, no. We aren't that rich. Just open Aang's present."

Aang handed her the bag, which contained his gift. Katara quickly removed the tissue and took out a small jewelry box.

"Holy shit! He's proposing marriage!" Zuko screeched.

"Zuko, it's only jewelry! She's only sixteen!" Mai growled as she elbowed him.

Katara opened it to reveal a beautiful sterling silver locket with an intricate design on it. In the middle was a tiny sapphire blue stone that matched her eyes.

"Oh, my God, Aang. How much did you spend?" Katara gasped.

"Katara!" Sokka hissed at his sister.

"Well, it's so beautiful! It just looks so expensive! What did you rob a jewelry store?" Katara teased.

"Well, I wanted something nice. It's kinda to replace that one I got you in the third grade. I'm surprised that one isn't tarnished by now. That one is only one of those cheapy Wal-Mart brand, 3-dollar, kids jewelry bin kinda things. So I decided I'd get you a little bit better one, if you're going to wear it all the time." Aang grinned sheepishly as Katara was already undoing the clasp to put it on. Her hands were trembling with excitement, so Aang helped her with the clasp. When he finished Katara whirled around and squeezed him.

"Okay, okay. Now it's our turn. Everyone pitched in to help on this gift. Even Aang wanted to help after he bought that expensive thing." Sokka brought out a gigantic box.

"So it was expensive?" Katara asked.

"It wasn't like thousands of dollars! Besides I had Gyatso help out!" Aang explained.

"Okay, back to the present at hand!" Sokka waved down Katara's attention. "Start opening!"

Katara turned towards the box that went up past her stomach and at least two feet wide.

"What on earth…?" Katara started to pull at the paper. An image of a television was on the box. "You got me a TV? Wait, this is our TV from downstairs!"

"That's just the box!" Sokka rolled his eyes. "Just pull off the tape."

Katara picked off the small piece of tape on top and opened the flaps of the box.

"Newspaper?" Katara stared at the box full of paper.

"Dig through the paper." Sokka groaned feeling as if he had to explain everything. Katara moved the many crumpled up balls of newspaper to find a smaller box.

"Oh, my God. How much more do I have to open?" Katara gasped as she pulled off the tap for that box.

"Hey, if you don't want it, I'll take—"

"OH, MY GOD!" Katara screamed. She squealed and ran around.

"What is it Katara? Sokka's been awful secretive of this whole birthday surprise." Gran asked her granddaughter.

"IT'S THE NEW IPOD NANO!" Katara screamed. "And an iTunes gift card! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Katara jumped on Sokka in a big hug.

"Hey, I only organized it and put twenty-five bucks of my own money into it. It's everyone here who really helped. Couldn't have bought it without their money." Sokka laughed. Katara ran around and hugged everyone in the room.

"Just to let you know we didn't have a choice." Zuko told Katara as she squeezed him. "When we were setting this up, your brother told us we were going to give him money or we couldn't come to the party."

"You—WHAT?!" Katara screamed at Sokka.

"No I didn't!" Sokka shouted.

"More or less you did." Mai agreed.

"Okay it was a little aggressive asking." Sokka admitted.

"So just be happy, okay, bitch?" Zuko growled at Katara.

"Do we have to eat dessert?" Sokka mumbled to Aang as everyone gathered into the kitchen.

"Yes! We have to sing and—"

"No, but do we have to eat it?" Sokka asked. Aang growled at him.

"Okay, okay." Sokka backed off.

"Oh, oh! I get to light the candles!" Zuko put the candles in the lopsided cake.

"Okay, just please don't burn the house down, Zuko…" Katara groaned envisioning the outcome of Zuko and a matchbook.

"Alright, but I may burn the cake down." Zuko struck the match.

"ZUKO!" Katara screeched.

"Do you want me to drop the match and burn your house to the ground?" Zuko growled as he finished lighting the candles.

"At least I didn't punch your face out." Katara replied.

"Go birthday girl." Zuko stood back admiring his blazing work of art.

"OKAY!" Aang shouted, putting his arms up to conduct the crowd of people.

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, dear Katara! Happy Birthday to you!" the room sang.

"And many more on channel four, and Scooby Doo on channel…two…" Zuko burst out before Katara could blow out the candles. Everyone stared at him awkwardly.

"Fine, be party poopers!" Zuko screamed.

"We just all aren't six years old." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Blow out your candles, Katara!" Aang shouted as he snapped a bunch of pictures with his digital camera.

"Okay, Mr. Paparazzi." Katara took a big breath and blew out all of the candles. One stayed lit and Katara kept blowing on it, thinking she just didn't get enough air to it. She blew and blew and blew.

"What is this a trick candle?!" Katara finally gasped. Zuko grinned as he held up a small package of gag candles that stayed lit.

"You know. Just mixed them in with the rest and it looks the same." Zuko laughed at Katara's beet-red, exhausted face.

"I hate you!" Katara growled at Zuko as she took out the candles. She grabbed a knife to start cutting the cake. "Hmm…I don't even know where to begin on this thing."

"Let me do that." Aang put his hand over Katara's.

"What is this? A birthday party or a wedding? Come on!" Sokka teased them. Aang blushed furiously as Katara slid her hand out from under his as he started to slice the cake. Katara whipped around towards Sokka and gave him a hard look. Once Aang had cut the cake, those who were daring enough took the cake and some experimented with the food and some just left the room without desert.

"Oh, wait! I forgot! I also brought a prune pudding because I knew how awful that cake turned out!" Sokka exclaimed. He turned towards the fridge and pulled out a bowl of the pudding he had gotten Gran to help him with.

"MY FAVORITE!" Katara screamed.

"And this is one hundred percent Sokka made." Sokka boasted.

"It was my idea after this cake was ruined." Aang pitched in.

"And you didn't help. You only liked the utensils used for making it!" Gran accused him.

"Okay, okay." Sokka rolled his eyes. Katara seemed satisfied with a large helping of both cake and pudding as she left the kitchen.

**xox**

Somehow cake frosting ended up everywhere. In peoples hair. On the floor. On people's clothes. It looked like the monster of the cake came in the room and threw up all over. As soon as there was a racket in the room, Gran, Gyatso and the Bei Fongs entered the room.

"What on earth…?" Gran muttered.

"How is it every time we leave sweet things and you teenagers alone in the same room it doesn't end in your mouth but in your hair?" Gyatso scolded Aang who was the most plastered frosting.

"Um, everyone kind of found a different use for the cake?" Aang tried to explain as he took a bit of frosting from his own face and ate it.

"Wow, Mr. Gyatso. This is honestly one of the best parties I've ever been to." Zuko thanked the man for his party experience.

"Are you the one who did this?" Gyatso asked.

"Yes," Katara answered as she also took a bit of frosting from Aang's frosting coated head with her finger.

"You will be here tomorrow bright and early for clean up duty." Gyatso told Zuko.

"What if I don't show?" Zuko threatened.

"I know your Uncle pretty well. I can get in touch. Also, I can call the police and report a case of vandalism. This living room looks pretty vandalized to me." Gyatso took a look around.

"How do you know my Uncle?" Zuko asked.

"All old people know each other." Gyatso replied. "So eight o' clock? I trust Katara and Sokka can make sure you get here since you live with them now?"

"Eight o' clock on a Saturday?" Zuko growled.

"I can easily find Iroh's phone number." Gyatso threatened.

"Yes, sir. Eight o' clock." Zuko nodded.

"To the rest of you, the party is over." Gyatso declared.


	17. Zuko's Punishment

Thank you so much for the patience. I don't know what I was thinking. The original story line for this entire update was so much longer. But when I open this up I start typing and typing and typing and I just go and all of a sudden it's nine pages and I haven't even touched the main plot of what I've planned. So I had to play around with where I was going. You know what else I notice when I get in those typing trances? It's mainly Zuko. Zuko is TOO much fun to write about. It should be illegal. That's how much fun it is. I think it's Dylan who keeps reminding me to put more Kataang in it. So I'm thinking that in my head. MORE KATAANG, MORE KATAANG. And what comes out? More Zuko. It's easier to write maybe. I think I have Kataang in mind for the overall storyline but what comes out in text is Zuko. So I apologize. After all, this is suppose to be a Kataang fic. Like see here? We begin with Zuko…

**xOx**

"Zuko! You better get the hell out of bed! I can't believe you're making us all get up this early!" Sokka screamed down to the basement. "ZUKO!"

"What's your problem?" Zuko asked standing at the front door.

"There you are." Sokka rolled his eyes. "Katara we're leaving!" Sokka called to his sister's room.

"Wait, my hair isn't done yet!" she screeched.

"Look, Aang doesn't care, and Zuko has to be there in twenty minutes or Gyatso's going to go nuclear or something. We need to leave!" Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Why are you even coming again? I'm the only one who has to be there." Zuko reminded Sokka.

"Well, I've got a date with Suki today. I told her I'd pick her up in an hour or so. I'll give you three guesses why Katara's going." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"I knew why she was going. But why do you have to go there if you have to pick up Suki in an hour?" Zuko asked.

"It's easier to get to her house from Aang's and I thought I'd stop by and say hello to Aang anyway since I'm there. Y'know, do a little Aang-Katara spyin' to make sure they aren't up to anything." Sokka grinned.

"I can do that for you." Zuko promised.

"While Gyatso is working you like a he's a slave driver? That's impossible. One time I made a mess with water balloons all over their yard one summer and Gyatso got so mad at me I had to go pick up all the balloons and do extra yard work. Don't get me wrong. Aang's uncle is the nicest man you'll ever meet, but if you do anything to that house it's scary. He'll work you to the bone just to get it cleaned up." Sokka told him.

"Thanks for the encouragement." Zuko sighed in defeat.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Katara exclaimed as she flew down the stairs and out the door. "I'm waiting on you guys!"

"Yeah, yeah." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"So we're taking your car?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah, I need to leave after a bit to go pick up Suki. How am I supposed to do that if we take yours?" Sokka asked as he unlocked his car.

"But how are we supposed to get home?" Zuko asked.

"Walk home." Sokka shrugged.

"What?" Katara furrowed her brows.

"Have Gyatso give you guys a ride home." Sokka suggested. "Unless you're there until seven tonight."

"You're spending that much time with Suki?" Katara asked.

"I haven't spent that much time with her lately except for at school and at your party. She always has martial arts practice, I always have you people to babysit…I owe her." Sokka shrugged as he backed out of the driveway.

"Oh, come on Sokka you could have invited her any time to anything." Katara told him.

"Like I said she's been busy." Sokka replied. "So we're going to hang out today for a while. Maybe if we're nice we'll come pick you up."

"Whatever."

In another fifteen minutes they arrived at Aang and Gyatso's residence. Katara rang the doorbell and they could hear Appa bark happily as he ran to the door.

"I'm coming, Appa!" Aang shouted. "Hey, guys." Aang smiled sleepily as he opened the door.

"Good morning, Aang!" Katara lightly kissed him on the way in.

"I didn't know all of you guys were coming!" Aang yawned. "Uncle Gyatso's inside." Aang prompted Zuko.

"Of course, Aang! I wouldn't miss a chance to see you!" Katara grinned.

"Of course, she wouldn't." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"And what about you?" Aang asked Sokka.

"I have to pick up Suki in an hour, I thought I'd come along and say hi." Sokka grinned.

"He really just wants to supervise you and the girlfriend." Zuko told him as he ventured inside.

"Zuko, why'd you have to tell'em?!" Sokka hissed.

"I thought I'd give them a fair warning." Zuko shrugged.

"Like it's going to stop us." Katara shrugged.

"I'm so going to hurt you." Sokka growled.

"Zuko! In here! Now!" Gyatso demanded.

"Yes, sir." Zuko nodded.

The house was still a wreck from the party. Zuko was getting no help here.

"You will start in the room with the cake. Then you can move on to the kitchen and clean up dishes." Gyatso explained.

"Wait, I have to clean up the whole place? Not just the cake?" Zuko whined.

"Yes, that serves as a suitable punishment for me." Gyatso nodded. "Better get to work!" Gyatso handed him a bottle of cleaner and a rag. "This should get the frosting out of the carpet and furniture."

By now, Sokka had migrated to the kitchen to see what leftovers he could find. Pizza always seemed better cold on the second day.

Katara and Aang tried to sneak off to Aang's room however Sokka shouted at them to get back downstairs where Sokka could keep an eye on them and graze on the stale chips. So Aang and Katara sat at the kitchen table, which was still littered with party mess, as Sokka feasted like vulture.

Zuko scrubbed his hardest, but the weird brown frosting was a tough stain to get out. Of course, Aang's cat, Momo wasn't helping a whole lot. As Zuko would scrub Momo would chase the rag back and forth. And as Momo 'helped' Zuko, Appa wanted to be just as helpful. He jumped around the teenager scrubbing stains on the couch, and licking the side of his face.

"Stupid dog." Zuko growled.

**x**

Soon it was only Katara, Aang, and Zuko left in the house. Gyatso had to leave to do some errands and Zuko was told to continue working diligently because if he got back and no progress had been made he'd know no work had been done and Zuko's Uncle would be notified. Sokka had disappeared too, and left Katara and Aang with a stern warning that even though he wasn't there he'd still know everything that happened. Zuko promised Sokka he'd watch the two, but he was so absorbed in his work and making sure everything he did was perfect so Gyatso couldn't nail him for it, that Aang and Katara were able to sneak away without to much notice. As Zuko was getting close Gyatso returned home and inspected Zuko's work. He made Zuko go over a spot or two, but for the most part approved of Zuko's scrubbing and cleaning. It was only twelve thirty and Sokka wouldn't want to come pick up he or Katara for a long time. Besides, Zuko hated waiting for people anyway. He got out his cell phone and found Mai in his 'recent calls' list and called the number.

"What do you want Zuko?" Mai answered the phone.

"You wanna come pick me up?" Zuko asked.

"From jail?" Mai teased him.

"No, not from jail! I'm stuck at Aang's house cause I had to come clean up after that party and we had to take Sokka's car cause he had to meet his date in an hour and he had to come cause he had to spy on Katara and Aang or whatever."

"Why didn't you just take your car separately so you could drive home later?" Mai asked.

"And deny the free ride I was getting?" Zuko asked. "No! I'm wasn't paying for gas. It's all good." Zuko shrugged.

"Okay, okay. I'll come pick you up. Yes, I remember where it is." Mai told him.

"Okay, thanks, Mai. You're the best!" Zuko grinned.

"Whatever." Mai hung up.

Zuko decided he should go find the two he promised Sokka he'd baby-sit. First, he should check the little munchkin freshman's room. He should tell Katara he was getting a ride home too if she wanted it. Like that was going to happen. She'd_ live_ with Aang if she could.

"Yo, my bitch, where are you?" Zuko called. He opened the door to Aang's room to find Katara and Aang kissing passionately. "Hey, hey, hey! Break it up! I told your brother I'd be watching you, so cut it out! Jeez, is there tongue in there?" Zuko grimaced at the two. "I SAID STOP! Or I'll go get Old Man Gyatso!"

"I hate you." Katara eventually acknowledged Zuko's existence. Aang evilly glared at the older boy.

"I love you, too, my bitch. So, I'm getting a ride and she'll be here in five or ten minutes. So if you want to hitch a ride home with us than we're leaving then. If not you're on your own." Zuko explained.

"Of course, I'm staying here. You don't even have to ask." Katara scoffed.

"Okay, then see you whenever." Zuko left. He headed downstairs and told Gyatso he was departing and leaving Katara there. Zuko figured he'd head down the driveway to meet Mai down there so she didn't have to drive all the way up. Besides, it'd take at least five minutes to get down the drive. He stood at the bottom of the driveway for a couple of minutes, every now and again checking his watch. Eventually he saw Mai pull up in her ancient black dinged up car.

"What, did they kick you out?" Mai asked.

"Nah, I just didn't want you to drive all the way up there. Remember? His driveway is deadly." Zuko reminded her as he clicked his seatbelt.

"Yeah, yeah." Mai rolled her eyes.

"So, you want to go grab lunch or something? I'm starved." Zuko asked her.

"I can't. I'm babysitting Tom Tom today while my parents go to visit some family somewhere." Mai told him. Mai's family was just as rich as Zuko's was, but just like Zuko she was just as deprived as he was. Most of their extra funds went to Mai's baby brother Tom Tom who was a couple of years old. He was spoiled rotten and Mai was left with whatever was left. Like the car she was driving now. If it weren't for Tom Tom, Mai would have a much nicer car than the crappy car she drove now.

"I don't see the kid. Did you leave him home _alone?_" Zuko couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Mai just leaving a little toddler home alone to come pick him up.

"Of course not, Ty Lee is watching him. She ran over while I came to pick you up." Mai told him.

"I would have just left him home alone. I don't see how you put up with it. If I were you and Tom Tom was Azula I would have killed her a long time ago. In fact if I knew better when I was younger, I would have killed her while she was still little."

"And have to go to jail for murdering my younger brother? I really don't want the attention." Mai shrugged.

"And instead put up with shit?" Zuko demanded.

"Zuko it doesn't matter. I turn here, right?"

"No, you turn left."

"Yeah, but I turn, yes?"

"Yes."

"So are we still on for Sunday…tomorrow?" Mai asked.

"Oh, yeah. I really haven't asked my Uncle but he never minds when I show up. And he won't mind if you come either. Maybe I'll see if Sokka, Aang and Katara want to come. If you don't mind. They probably don't want to come anyway. They all hate me." Zuko joked.

"Oh, Zuko. They do not _hate _you. They live with you for now anyway." Mai rolled her eyes. "And I don't mind, but you should probably warn your uncle if you're going to bring all those people over."

"I'll call him tonight, regardless of what's going on." Zuko shrugged. "That house there." Zuko pointed.

"Alright," Mai pulled up to the side of the street. "Let me know what's going on tomorrow."

"I'll call you tonight!" Zuko jumped out of the car. He came around to the other side of the car and kissed Mai through the open window.

"See you."

**x**

"KATARA, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?" Sokka shouted into the phone as he paced up and down in the living room.

"Dude, she's at Aang's still." Zuko explained, surfacing from digging through the fridge looking for a drink to go with the bag of chips in his hand.

"You could have told me that!" Sokka shouted at Zuko. "Y'know when I was asking where she was and you weren't responding—?"

"My mouth was full!" Zuko exclaimed as he continued shoving chips in his mouth.

"Okay, okay, Katara! Just get home soon! A HALF AN HOUR THAT'S ALL I'M GIVING YOU. AND IF YOU'RE NOT HOME BY THEN I'M COMING UP THERE AND DRAGGING YOU HOME. NO BUTS." Sokka angrily hung up the phone.

"Why are you not there?" Sokka scolded Zuko as if he were his parent.

"Because it was boring and I was done with the work."

"I _told_ you to watch Katara and Aang."

"Look, I got a ride—"

"I meant that if you got a ride from someone else, Katara had to come with you. I didn't want her there alone!"

"She wasn't alone! Gyatso was there."

"Gyatso is clueless to all that goes on between the two!"

"Whatever it's not like she's missing or murdered, it's just Aang right?" Zuko asked.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND."

"Whatever, whatever."

"So are you guys doing anything tomorrow?" Zuko asked.

"No, why? Are you going to drag us into one of your crazy ideas or something? I don't want to end up in jail." Sokka eyed Zuko carefully.

"Why does eve—? Never mind. I'm going to my uncle's house I was wondering if you guys wanted to come or something."

"Wait, you're inviting us to go with _you_ to do something?" Sokka asked incredulously.

"Yeah, why not?" Zuko asked. "I was just asking if you wanted something to do. My uncle loves—"

"I just thought you thought we were annoying little pests."

"I live with you don't I?"

"And that's why I thought you thought that."

"Well, I could have gone and lived somewhere else."

"Like where?" Sokka interrogated.

"Like Mai's." Zuko replied smartly.

"You think her strict parents would let you?" Sokka asked.

"Okay, okay." Zuko scratched his head. "Well, I could have gone and gotten my own place and gotten a job for rent."

They both looked at each other for a brief moment and then started to laugh.

"You. Working." Sokka wiped away a tear.

The next moment the door swung open. And Katara appeared as she waved goodbye to Aang as their car disappeared.

"That was fast." Sokka remarked.

"I _told _you I was already driving home with Aang and Gyatso!" Katara shouted at him. "I can't believe you had to act like that!"

"Oi, why don't you go call Aang and ask him what he's doing tomorrow!" Zuko told her.

"Why?" both siblings asked.

"You already know." Zuko told Sokka.

"She just saw him!"

"I'm going to my Uncle's and I was wondering if you guy's wanted to go."

"Okay!" Katara exclaimed. "Sounds like fun!" Katara headed towards the kitchen to see what there was to eat.

"What about blind girl next door?" Zuko asked Sokka.

"You mean Toph?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah, the Gay Thongs."

"Dude…" Sokka smacked his forehead. "They aren't going to let her out of the house."

"They let her out all the other times I see her." Zuko shrugged.

"That's because she sneaks out. The last time you dragged her from the premise and you got arrested or she sprained her ankle." Sokka explained.

"Whatever. Just call her and tell her what's going on." Zuko told him. "Where's your cell?" Zuko asked.

"I ate it." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Seriously! Call her! We're going to make a party out of tomorrow!"

"Does your Uncle know you're bringing that many people? Shouldn't you call him first?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah, yeah." Zuko pulled out his cell phone. He found his uncle's number and hit the dial button. It rang only twice.

"Hello!" his uncle's cheery voice sang.

"Hey, Uncle Iroh. It's Zuko."

"Zuko! When are you going to visit your old Uncle? It's been a while!"

"I was hoping to come over tomorrow."

"You're welcome to come over whenever you want." Iroh told him.

"Well, I was hoping to bring some friends too." Zuko put the idea in front of his Uncle.

"Excellent! Should I get out the big tea pot?"

"The biggest."

"Wonderful! I will see you tomorrow then. What time tomorrow should I be expecting you?"

"Sometime. I don't know. I'll call you when we are headed that way since it takes at least an hour." Zuko replies.

"I'll be waiting for your call!"

"See you tomorrow, Uncle."

"So he's cool with it?" Sokka asked as Zuko hung up the phone.

"Yeah, I knew he would be." Zuko shrugged. "Now give me Toph's number!"

"Zuko! You can't do that! Her parents really would get a restraining order." Sokka reminded him.

"Just to let you know I talked to Toph the other night. Her parents are out of town." Katara reminded the two boys.

"What is with people and being out of town this weekend? Mai's parents are out of town today too. Is there some freak-a-zoid parent convention somewhere?" Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Okay, her parents are out of town. But that always goes wrong! What if her parents come home early?" Sokka asked.

"Sokka, you're never a worry wart. Chill out. She said they're both not coming back for another week." Katara told them.

"So they left their little precious blind daughter at home alone for a week?" Sokka asked.

"Of course not. They have a family friend over. She's like ancient though. Toph said she could tell the old lady she was going to the bathroom and be gone for two days and she wouldn't notice." Katara explained.

"Still it doesn't sound like a good idea." Sokka told them, skeptical.

"Whatever, I'm still gonna tell her we're going." Zuko shrugged. "Katara, what's her number?"

"Hang on. It's right here. Just use my cell phone." Katara pulled out her cell phone. She found the number, selected it and dialed it before handing it to Zuko.

"Yeah, what's up?" Toph's bored voice picked up.

"Toph, it's Zuko. Tomorrow we're going to my Uncle's house."

"Sweet! Sounds like fun!"

"Rumor has it that you have a clueless old lady watching you and that you may be able to come with us."

"Hell yeah!"

"TOPH DON'T LISTEN THEY ARE BAD PEOPLE WITH BAD INFLUENCES!" Sokka shouted into the phone.

"Since when is Sokka a goody-two shoes?" Toph asked.

"He's been like that since we've been discussing this." Zuko replied. "We'll come pick you up tomorrow and call you beforehand to warn you were coming over."

"Okay!" Toph exclaimed.

"See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, bye."

"Easy as cake!" Zuko declared.

"Yeah, yeah." Sokka rolled his eyes. "Just make sure I have no part of this when you all get in major trouble."

"Katara! Get up!" Sokka shouted.

**x**

"KATARA GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED. WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE." Zuko yelled from downstairs.

"Wow, doesn't this seem familiar? Dude, you didn't even tell your Uncle a time." Sokka shrugged as he left his sisters room.

"Yes, but we still have to go pick up Mai and Aang and get Toph out of her prison. Plus Katara time THAT'S ALMOST LUNCH TIME. I WANT TO BE THERE BY LUNCH TIME." Zuko shouted.

"Okay, okay." Sokka shrugged.

"I know how to get her out of bed." Zuko grinned.

"Katara! Aang decided to meet us here. He's downstairs! He came early! Just for you! He has a big kiss waiting for you!" Zuko called into the room.

"Aang?" Katara called as she jumped out of bed.

"Katara, he was joking." Sokka stopped her before her heart was completely ripped in two.

"YOU SON OF A—"

"Katara, Katara…please. Stop! Get out of bed. Get dressed. Meet us downstairs. We're going over to Toph's house while you're getting ready. Okay?" Sokka told her.

"Okay." Katara rubbed her eyes and stretched.

"Alright, Katara's getting ready. Let's go over to Toph's and see if we can get her out." Sokka suggested. They walked out the front door and cut across the front yard and across to Toph's perfectly manicured lawn. The two teenage boys approached the front door and rung the doorbell.

"Okay, so we're going to tell the lady that we're here to…uhm…" Sokka scratched his head. Toph answered the door.

"Hey, let's go." Toph was already out the door.

"Okay…" Zuko shrugged. "That was easy."

"HEY, I'M GOING OUT FOR A WALK." Toph yelled.

"Are you sure you don't want to look at more pictures of my Miyuki?" an old woman's voice called from inside the house.

"No, that's okay!" Toph called as she slammed the door.

"Miyuki?" Sokka asked.

"Her cat. She has a ton of them. Miyuki's her favorite. And she smells like cabbage. Rotten cabbage. She runs some pharmacy or apothecary something or other downtown."

"A walk?" Zuko asked.

"She has no sense of time. When I get back she'll have thought that I was gone for five minutes."

"Okay, let's go see if Katara's ready." Sokka told the two.

**x**

"Let's pick up Aang! Please!" Katara begged from the back seat.

"Katara for the last time, Mai is on the way to Aang's house. And then we'll go pick up your pretty little boyfriend."

Katara folded her arms.

"Did you call Aang _pretty?_" Katara asked confused.

"Yeah," Zuko shrugged. "Did you want me to call him ugly?"

"You just made it sound like…" Katara furrowed her brows. Sokka turned up the radio, which was currently on a commercial break.

"YOU CAN GET ZERO PERCENT INTREST ON ANY USED CARS!" it announced.

"Sokka turn it down!" Zuko yelled.

"I am just so sick of hearing you and Katara argue over the stupidest things." Sokka growled.

"Okay, then. You go back you your nice little used car ads." Zuko turned the radio back up. They got to Mai's in another five minutes.

Mai came out immediately and jumped in the back of the car.

"Let's get out of this shithole." Mai growled.

"Not having a good day Mai?" Zuko asked.

"No!" Mai exclaimed as she clicked her seatbelt. "Just go."

"What's up?" Zuko asked.

"My parents found out I left TomTom alone for five minutes yesterday with Ty Lee to come pick you up and they flipped. I wasn't sure if I'd be alive in time for you to get here."

"Well, it looks like its Zuko to the rescue." Zuko grinned.

After picking up Aang, and shoving all six people into Zuko's car (the front seat had a small seat in the middle with a lap belt just big enough for Aang to fit) they headed off for Zuko's uncle's house. They switched everyone around at Aang's house so now everyone fit with Zuko in the driver's seat, Mai in the passenger seat and Aang in the middle. In the back Toph sat in between Sokka and Katara. Zuko kept concentrated on the road in front of him as Katara and Sokka argued in the back. The topic of conversation went from getting in trouble for yet again kidnapping Toph, to who did the dishes last night. Zuko continued to use Sokka's tactic to avoid arguments and turn up the radio. But soon the radio got so loud it was close to blasting out the car speakers and at stoplights they were getting stern looks.

"ZUKO! IT ISN'T WORKING!" Mai shouted.

"WHAT?!" Zuko yelled.

"IT ISN'T WORKING! TURN IT DOWN!"

"I CAN'T HEAR—"

Aang turned the radio down tired of being screamed at on both sides.

"—YOU." Zuko finished his statement, which sounded extremely loud now that the radio was off.

"God, Zuko why do you have to yell so much?" Katara laughed.

"I swear I'm going to kick you all out on the side of the road."

"Why'd you even invite us if you didn't want us?" Toph asked.

"Well, I thought we'd all be _good_ little boys and girls and _behave ourselves_." Zuko grinded his teeth as his knuckles grew white on the wheel.

"Alright, alright. Let's all relax." Aang turned up the radio to midlevel. It was pretty quiet until they reached Uncle Iroh's a little while later.

"Come on," Zuko hissed as he got out of the car and didn't wait for the rest of the crowd to pile out of the car. He ran up to the door and rang the doorbell. Mai was the only one who reached Zuko before Iroh opened the door.

"Zuko! Mai! How nice of you to come by! I thought you said you were brining more people Zuko…" Iroh scratched his head.

"I did. They're just slow!" Zuko screamed at the four still arguing as they climbed out of the car and grabbed their things.

"You could wait, Zuko!" Katara screamed as she hurried up to the house.

"Well, come in, come in." Iroh smiled as he welcomed him into his front room and poured tea for them as they all sat down and thanked him for the tea.

"Okay, so Uncle let me take care of all the introductions here. The bitchy one here—"

"Zuko, don't use that language towards a pleasant young lady!" Iroh scolded him.

"Whatever. She's Katara. Her boyfriend is my little freshman buddy, Aang. That's Sokka, Katara's his sister. And then there's Toph. She's a little blind girl and so she's cool." Zuko shrugged.

"Being blind constitutes for being cool?" Toph asked.

"Uhm, you used a word larger than two syllables." Zuko scolded Toph.

"Technically, syllables is a word larger than two syllables." Toph reminded him.

"Syll-ables." Zuko folded his arms.

"Syll-ab-les." Toph argued.

"Well, I'd love to sit around and talk about how many syllables are in syllables but don't we have anything better to do?" Mai asked.

"Uncle, what are we doing?" Zuko asked.

"Currently you are sitting in my front room drinking tea." Iroh replied.

"No, I mean do we have plans? Y'know to entertain us?" Zuko asked.

"You're the one who just called your uncle on a whim and told him you were bringing a herd of people!" Katara exclaimed.

"A herd? You refer to us as a herd?" Sokka asked.

"Do you prefer a pack? Pride? A gaggle?" Katara asked.

"Gaggle?" Aang giggled.

"Like a gaggle of geese?" Katara tried to explain.

"Well, we aren't animals." Zuko groaned.

"I suppose we could go mini-golfing at that place that's five minutes away." Iroh suggested.

"Uncle, we did that last time I visited! Remember with Mai and I got a hole in one on the windmill hole and the snow cones?" Zuko tried to describe to his Uncle. Iroh scratched his head.

"That's right," Iroh finally nodded. "But Katara, Aang, Sokka and Toph haven't gone with us yet."

"You did say you enjoy mini golfing, Zuko." Katara prompted Zuko.

"I said I enjoy the snow cones." Zuko corrected. "You really want to go mini-golfing?"

"Come on it'll be fun!" Aang grinned as he excitedly grabbed Katara's hand.

"You'll enjoy it even though that's what we did last time, Zuko." Mai comforted him.

"Alright, mini-golfing it is." Zuko sighed.


	18. The White Lotus

HAHHAHAHAH! I've finally, FINALLY finished this chapter! I swear I thought I'd never get it done. But once it starts flowing from my finger tips it goes! And it's so easy! Ahhhh...it's so nice when a story just comes easily like that. Especially since I haven't updated this in a long time. I put a hold on everything so I could get this done. I wasn't working on anything but this (and other mindless drabbles that I'll probably never publish, but let's not think of that) and pleas just enjoy this indulgent nonsense!

**x0x**

"And Katara will be putting for par. She is three meters away from the hole. Will she make it?"

"If you'd shut up!"

"She is calling for silence on the green."

The group of five silently watched Katara as she concentrated on the bright blue golf ball. It narrowly missed the hole as she gasped in frustration.

"Don't worry, Katara! You'll get it next hole!" Aang grinned at her.

"Says the mini-golf champion. Are you sure you and Gyatso don't have one of these in the backyard and you practice everyday?" Katara asked.

"I swear! I haven't played since the third grade!" Aang laughed as he lined up beside his bright orange ball that was about three inches away from the hole.

"You still kicked our asses." Sokka growled.

"I say whoever wins should buy us all snow cones and a hundred games at the arcade!" Zuko called.

"I didn't agree to that!" Aang furrowed his brows.

"Don't worry, Aang. I will buy the snow cones." Iroh assured the frustrated freshman with empty pockets.

"But Uncle, that's no fair! And what about arcade games?" Zuko whined.

"Zuko stop acting like a four year old!" Iroh scolded his nephew.

"But—"

"You're acting like Azula."

Zuko quieted instantly.

**x**

Once inside at the arcade, everyone had gotten their snow-cones. Zuko and Mai were at the arcade, Iroh and Toph were discussing the flavor of their grape snow cone, Sokka was in a deep discussion with the kid behind the counter about an unfair obstacle on hole five and Katara and Aang were sitting at a table sharing their cherry snow-cone.

"I swear Mai, I'll get you that panda bear!" Zuko furiously threw skee balls up the ramp into the hundred-point cup.

"Zuko, the panda is fifty thousand tickets. Right now, you're getting about three per quarter per about two minutes a game. I'll let you do the math." Mai sighed. Zuko grunted in agreement as he pulled off his latest three tickets.

"Will you settle for the ten ticket bouncy ball then?" Zuko asked.

"I'll cherish it till the day I die." Mai told him, dripping with sarcasm. Zuko went and traded his tickets for the small, plastic bouncy ball for Mai. "Just what I always wanted."

**x**

They finished with their snow cones, Iroh wanted to take them out to lunch. Nobody could decide on what to eat. Sokka just wanted fast food. Katara and Aang wanted somewhere they could sit and be waited on. Zuko just wanted fed and Mai and Toph didn't care if they got fed at all.

"I've decided for you. We're eating at my friends' place. It's ten minutes away." Iroh decided.

"What kind of service is it?" Katara asked.

"Sit down." Iroh replied. Sokka opened his mouth. "But fast service." Iroh added.

"Well, at least we all agree." Aang grinned as they packed into the cars. Zuko agreed to take Mai and Toph in his car.

"This is the coolmobile. Only cool people in this car. Everyone else gets to go in Uncle's car." Zuko folded his arms.

"I'm cool!" Toph shouted.

"Whatever. I don't want to catch any cooties from you." Katara stuck out her tongue.

"That's mature, Katara." Sokka rolled his eyes. "At least we won't…get lost on our way there!"

"I know my way there. Uncle takes me there every time I come over." Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Come on! We need to avoid the lunch rush and I can get us a good table! Have we decided who's riding with who?" Iroh asked.

"Yep! Bye!" Zuko jumped in his car.

"Come on, Zuko! You know how my sister is with Aang!"

"Oh, poor Sokka! Not my problem!" Zuko shrugged. "And my uncle has freakish music! Have fun!"

**x**

They arrived at a place called '_The White Lotus'_. Katara, Aang and Sokka unloaded their car after a ten-minute ride of listening to 'Soothing Sounds of the East'. Sokka had fallen asleep immediately and Katara and Aang were forced into awkward conversation with Iroh. Zuko pulled up thirty seconds after they arrived.

"We had a much better ride." Katara folded her arms.

"Come on, Katara. Let it go, he's just being stupid." Aang grabbed her arm.

"Even your little boyfriend knows I'm better than you at everything." Zuko smiled smugly.

"That's enough, Zuko. Come on, Katara." Aang tugged her inside. Zuko only rolled his eyes as Mai rested her hand on his arm.

"You are a little bold sometimes." Mai told him.

"She started it this time." Zuko hissed.

"Let it go, Zuko. Let it go." Mai sighed. "I just want to get through this day without anymore mishaps than what has already happened."

They followed the rest of the group inside. From the outside the restaurant looked small, but on the inside it was quite large and lavishly decorated with an oriental theme. There were pillars scattered through the room that were painted bright red. Each table had a white tablecloth with napkins that were folded like lotuses. The ceiling was covered in silver tin squares that had patterns on them, but they were so incredibly lustrous and reflective they were like mirrors, which made the room seem two times bigger. On one wall was a mural of rural China and the other was a painting of dragon that stretched from one end of the room to the other.

"This is incredible!" Aang gasped.

"I'm sure it is…" Toph sighed.

"It isn't that great. If you've seen one Chinese restaurant you've seen them all." Zuko sighed. "Bright colors, Chinese murals, dragons. Its so over done so that you really don't notice how bad the food tastes."

"I think Chinese food tastes okay." Toph protested.

"It's okay, anyway it's nothing great." Zuko shrugged.

"I feel like I'm underdressed! This place looks so fancy!" Katara looked around

"Katara, you look great all the time! I don't care what you're wearing!" Aang grinned.

"I know you don't, but I'm just worried we all look too casual!" Katara exclaimed.

"Don't worry, this place is entirely casual! The owner just goes over the top a lot." Iroh assured her. "He's the number one Chinese restaurant in this area for a reason!"

"How many in your party?" the host asked.

"Seven. But can you please tell Jeong-Jeong we are here? I believe we have a table reserved." Iroh explained.

"Ah, yes. Of course, right this way." the host led them through the restaurant.

They were led through the restaurant to a back table, a round booth that would fit all seven.

"I want to sit in the middle!" Aang called dibs.

"But I always sit in the middle." Zuko pouted.

"Maybe next time Zuko." Katara crawled in after Zuko. After that they all filled in around Aang and Katara. Iroh, Mai and Aang sat in between Katara and Zuko so they wouldn't fight.

"But, I hate the end!" Zuko continued to complain. Toph and Sokka sat on the opposite end by Katara.

"I already know what I'm getting!" Aang declared. "Sweet and sour chicken with egg drop soup!"

"Do you want to share that, since the proportions are outrageous at these Chinese restaurants?" Katara suggested.

"Sure!" Aang grinned.

"And will you be sharing your fortune cookie too?" Sokka rolled his eyes. "It'll read: 'Get a life.'"

"You're just jealous of us, Sokka." Aang grinned.

"Jealous of how incredibly sappy you are? And how you share everything?" Sokka rolled his eyes.

"You are just as bad with Suki." Katara rolled her eyes.

"So you're getting sweet and sour chicken?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah, do you have a problem with that?" Aang asked.

"You are such a kid." Zuko rolled his eyes.

"So what are you getting?" Katara asked.

"Uhm…" Zuko scratched his head looking at the menu. "The orange chicken."

"And you criticize Aang for being a child! The orange chicken is the same thing with different sauce."

"But every kid eats sweet and sour." Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Well sitting between them didn't help at all." Mai sighed.

"What about you Mai? You must be getting something good." Sokka asked.

"I'm sharing with Zuko." Mai told him.

"You too?" Sokka groaned.

"I can't eat that much. This place gives you too much to eat." Mai sighed.

"Well, at least we know Sokka will be full." Katara mumbled.

"What about you, Iroh? You come here often, what are you getting? And don't tell me your sharing with Toph or something." Sokka asked Iroh.

"No, no." Iroh laughed. "I'm trying the beef and green peppers but the Mongolian beef is excellent too."

"Hmm…" Sokka surveyed the menu. "What about you, Toph?"

"Probably just the beef Lo Mein." Toph replied as her menu sat on the table. "Lo Mein at all restaurants pretty much taste all the same right?"

"I beg to differ!" Zuko interjected.

"Okay…" Sokka sighed.

Soon their waiter came and took their orders. Sokka was deciding down to the last minute and decided on a family sized platter that contained almost everything, so he could sample it all.

"Sokka there is going to be no way your going to eat that all." Katara groaned at her brother's stupidity. "Notice it says feeds a family of four to five?"

"The portions are outrageous anyway. A normal dinner could feed two. So when it says four to five it's more like eight to ten." Mai explained.

"Oh, shit. You're kidding me! Sokka what have you gotten into?" Katara cried.

"I'll eat it!" Sokka comforted her.

"Over the course of two weeks!" Katara exclaimed.

"All tonight. I bet five dollars. Who's matching that?" Sokka pulled out a five dollar bill from his wallet.

"I will." Zuko pulled out his wallet.

"Don't encourage him!" Katara screamed.

"This will be fun, Katara! Let him suffer the consequences for his actions." Zuko shrugged.

"Oh, dear God. Someone will be having his stomach pumped tonight." Katara banged her head repeatedly on the table.

**x**

By the end of the meal it looked as if a bomb had gone off. And that was only Sokka's meal.

Everyone had a pleasant meal. The owner Jeong-Jeong had come to visit with Iroh. He had explained how he gained such a profitable restaurant by breaking from a chain restaurant he had managed along with his assistant Chey, and they created their own. His colleagues in the restaurant business called him the 'Deserter' for breaking out like that. Not many businesses survived that way.

The table however was a wreck. Sokka's meal had migrated all over the table. It was the only way he had room to fit it all. He had eaten a little of everything, but currently Sokka was lying on Toph's lap incoherently mumbling.

"I think I get that five dollars." Zuko grabbed the two five dollar bills that had sat on a open bit of table that sat to remind Sokka of why he continued to eat. Zuko shook off a piece of rice and wiped off a drop of soy sauce.

"Chinese, Japanese, can I have a cookie pleeaze?" Sokka grumbled.

"Here, Hungry Boy. Want your fortune cookie?" Toph asked.

"NOOO! TAKE IT AWAY!" Sokka moaned.

"I think we should get should get Sokka home before he explodes." Toph snickered.

"You are going to be one sick puppy by the time tomorrow rolls around." Katara sighed.

"Who lit Toph on fire?" Sokka asked, deliriously.

"Yeah, I think it's time to get Sokka home." Aang nervously bit his lip.

"All right, we're ready to leave." Iroh paid the bill.

"Sokka, we're going now." Toph tried to ease the overstuffed teenager out of her lap and out of the booth.

"How did we get in the middle of this ocean?" Sokka asked.

"This is a restaurant Sokka." Katara groaned as she fought her way out of the booth.

"I think there may have been something in that food." Mai suggested.

"Like drugs?" Zuko asked. "Why didn't I order some of that?"

"No, Sokka just gets like this when he eats like that." Katara sighed. "I've only seen him like this one other time. It was at Gran Gran's birthday party and he was eight years old. He cleaned the buffet we had set out."

"Gyatso had it set up so nice too! Sokka plowed through the finger sandwitches! Destroyed the appetizers! The horror! The pure unadulterated horror!" Aang gasped.

"Wow, I didn't know he was such a voracious beast." Zuko's brows rose. They all grabbed mints on they way out except for Sokka who screamed at the mint dish as if he were someone who was possessed.

"NO MORE FOOD! NOOO! I'M DYING!" Sokka screeched. The restaurant turned and stared.

"Please continue your dinners!" Katara laughed nervously.

When they arrived at the cars Katara helped Sokka towards Zuko's car.

"This is the COOL car!" Zuko exclaimed.

"Just drive us home, Zuko. Can't you see Sokka is…ahem…'_dying_'?" Katara asked.

"Fine." Zuko sighed as he unlocked the car.

Now Toph sat in the middle up front, between Zuko and Mai and Aang and Katara comforted the delusional Sokka in the back.

"Sorry, Uncle. Since Sokka ate too much we have to take him home." Zuko said good bye to his Uncle out of the rolled down window.

"That is fine. Take care of your friend. I will see you soon. I hope to see all of you soon! Goodbye!" Iroh smiled.

"Bring me presents next time Santa!" Sokka cooed. "I wonder where his reindeer are!"

"Ignore Sokka!" Katara called. Zuko put his car into drive and pulled out into the road.

"Aha! Are we flying? We're flying through the air on Appa's back!" Sokka giggled.

"Appa's my dog, Sokka." Aang told Sokka who was lying on his shoulder.

"Don't bother, Aang." Katara sighed.

"Roll up your window, Zuko." Mai told him. "You're making Sokka more delusional."

"He did that to himself, besides cool fresh air is good for him." Zuko explained.

"Whatever." Mai sighed.

The rest of the ride was full of Sokka's sometime coherent comments and the wind rushing past Zuko's window. Aang was first on the list to be dropped off since his house was the closest. He had to pry Sokka off of him and crawl over him to get out.

"See you tomorrow, Katara!" Aang waved.

Next, was Mai. When she was dropped off the lights inside the house snapped on and as they pulled out of the driveway they could hear Mai's parents shouting at her as she opened the door.

"I'm home, I'm home!" she growled.

"One of these days I'm going to come and kidnap Mai and we'll run away and live happily ever after." Zuko sighed.

"Are her parents that bad? I mean do they—?"

"They don't beat her or anything. They aren't that bad." Zuko shrugged. "Maybe she can come live with my Uncle this summer…her parents didn't use to be that bad. Not until her brother. They spend more time loving that thing than they do Mai." Zuko shrugged.

"That's sad." Katara sighed.

"If I could I would split the love in half that my parents have and give it to her! My parents are too loving and overprotective!" Toph exclaimed.

Zuko pulled into their drive and Katara dragged Sokka out of the car.

"WE ALL LIVE IN A YELLOW SUBMARINE! A YELLOW SUB—" Sokka sang.

"Sokka! We are not in the ocean! Shut up!" Katara hissed.

"Of course we aren't! We're all IN A YELLOW SUBMARINE!" Sokka screamed.

"Oh, my God."

"So, do you think your babysitter noticed?" Zuko asked as they got out of the car.

"No." Toph snickered as she started to head home.

"This lady has to be nuts, can I just listen to how she reacts when you come in?" Zuko followed her across the lawn.

"I don't care." Toph shrugged. She jumped up on the front porch and opened the door.

"I'm home!" Toph exclaimed. Zuko tried to stay hidden but was trying to get a good look inside to see the babysitter. It was a frail old lady with a green house robe on.

"How was your walk, love? It's beautiful this time of day." She commented as she greeted Toph. Toph tried to shoo Zuko away but he was too curious.

"And who is this? Did you meet a lovely young man while on your walk?" the sitter asked.

"Oh him? He's a lawn ornament. There's not a real person standing there." Toph shook her head.

"Oh, no dear! He's quite real! Young man were you stalking this poor innocent girl? Are you a sexual predator?" the sitter became almost two times her normal size. "LEAVE THIS POOR GIRL ALONE OR I SHALL HAVE TO TAKE NECESSARY ACTION!"

"Oh, him! Yes, he's one of my friends! I know him from school!" Toph smiled sweetly.

"Oh, come in then! You must have some tea! You know my husband and I first met while I was taking a walk through a beautiful park. I was with one of my cats that day and she was enjoying the plum blossoms at the park. He was sitting on a bench underneath one of the blossom trees and one of the branches snapped. Well, my Miyuki fell right in his lap and…"

"Leave while you still have the chance!" Toph hissed.

"I'm so outta here!"

**x0x**

Well, there's that. It's still Zuko-centric. He's addictive. Like a drug. I can't get away from writing him. I slowly trying to inject Kataang back into the fic and bring it back and I'm hoping this next little arc will add. Maybeh. I'm just trying to get these chapters out ASAP. Which isn't happening as fast as I'd hope.

And a little Tokko if you wanna look at it that way. Or Toko friendship as I'm looking at it.

Mehhhhh...I'll try to update faster next time lolz. Really.

Also, thanks to support of all you reviewers and readers! Without you the fic would be dead. Yes dead.

Icepath94, AH NO! Not Twilight! I wrote that before I ever heard of Twilight. I just randomly came up with names. Besides (no offense to Twilight fans and obsessors because I know you could kill me) I don't particularly like Twilight. And I have read (part) of the book. :)

Again, your reviews make me grin and giggle and laugh so much, it's so much fun. I'm so glad everyone finds this so enjoyable. I just write what I think would be funny and apparently everyone else thinks it's funny too. (But that means it includes Zuko D:) Jk, I will put more Kataang. Really I will. I swear. Really. Mooorrrreeee....Kataanggg......Yess.....

Okay I'm leaving....


	19. Appa's Lost Days

Here we are months after my last update...yup. I'm not saying anything else. If you want a lengthy excuse...I mean explanation of my delay go to my profile. For now, just read, gosh darnit. Wait. What's a DVD has been updated as well for those of you who read it. Okay, commence the reading.

**o0o**

Ah, wonderful school again. Katara had to hitch a ride with Zuko that morning, since Sokka was still out cold from his overdose of Chinese food. It was already a sign that today was not going to be good.

Actually it wasn't a bad ride. Zuko was surprisingly quiet the entire time they were driving to school. When she asked what was wrong with him, he said he was only tired and didn't feel like teasing her.

The apocalypse must be near.

Katara headed up to the front of the school to see if she could catch Aang before class started. She couldn't find him in his usual places. The hall near his locker was empty and their usual table contained people she knew, but no Aang. The bell rang and she decided she would look for him during lunch. Maybe he was just late.

**o**

By lunch, Sokka had arrived. He was looking and acting like his normal self. Sokka must have just needed to sleep it off. They all sat at their lunch table. Katara anxiously looked around for Aang.

"You look lonely, Katara. Where's your partner in crime?" Sokka asked.

"I don't know, I haven't seen him all day." Katara shrugged.

"Maybe he's feeling sick after last night." Sokka shrugged.

"Sokka, you ate everything off a Chinese restaurants menu and you're here at school. I think Aang will be fine." Zuko shrugged.

"But Sokka's a black hole. What makes Sokka ill and what makes Aang ill are two entirely different things." Toph explained.

"Whatever." Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Hey, guys."

Aang slowly approached their table. His eyes were puffy and blood shot. He was hunched over and shuffling as if he was asleep on his feet. Aang looked as if he hadn't slept all night.

"Wow, Aang. Did you go out clubbing all night after we dropped you off last night?" Zuko lightly joked.

"No," Aang bitterly shot.

"Oh my, God, Aang. What the hell happened to you? Why weren't you here this morning?" Katara asked.

"Appa's gone." Aang sniffled as he sat down.

"That's it? His dog died?" Zuko mumbled to Mai. "It looks like he overdosed on something and then like went out and drank every alcoholic beverage possible."

"Appa's not dead. He ran away." Aang mumbled.

"He only _ran away?_ Why are you acting like that then?" Zuko hissed.

"Zuko, why are _you_ acting like _this _towards him? He's had that dog since he was two! You have no idea—"

"Okay, but Katara…you still have a chance of finding the dog! He's still out there somewhere, you don't know if he's dead or not. So stop moping and you have to actually look for him." Zuko slammed his hands on the table.

"That was surprisingly optimistic for Zuko…" Sokka mumbled.

"Zuko, I hate to break you down and disappoint Aang…but to find a lost dog around these parts of town? You really think that it's possible? I think Appa's y'know. Gone. Either that or hit by a car…there's lots of busy streets around here." Katara grumbled grimly.

"That's nice, Katara. Shoot down any possibilities that the kid might have." Zuko folded his arms.

"Yeah, I say we at least try." Sokka voted.

"I'm not saying we can't—"

"Okay, so how are we going to do this? Posters?" Sokka suggested.

"Yeah!" Zuko nodded. "Look, I can get posters by the end of the school day. Just meet at my locker at the end of school."

"How are you going to get that many posters done by the end of school?" Sokka asked.

"I'm a TA. I pretty much show up and leave. The teacher I aid for doesn't make me do anything and I have pretty much access to any supplies the school has. I can just tell the copy people I'm doing something for my teacher. So I'll type up a missing poster and just make up a hundred or so copies to hang up." Zuko explained. "Aang do you have a good picture of Appa that I can put on the poster?"

"On me?" Aang asked.

"On your cell phone?" Zuko asked. "Just find one and send it to my cell. I can get it from there."

"I might I have one." Aang pulled out his phone and started dejectedly going through his photos. "I think this one will be good…" Aang mumbled. Katara looked over Aang's shoulder.

"Yeah, that's perfect Aang." Katara softly kissed his temple. Aang sent the picture to Zuko.

"I miss him so much…we've hardly ever been apart." Aang told her as he laid his head on the lunch table.

"I know, Aang." Katara gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "Do you want something to eat?" she offered him part of her lunch.

"No, I'm not hungry." Aang sighed. Katara searched for his hand under the table and squeezed it. "I'll do whatever it takes to find out what happened to Appa." Katara promised.

"Thanks, Katara. I knew I could depend on you." Aang smiled softly.

"Yeah, she says that after she told him that his dog is probably dead." Sokka whispered to Toph.

"Sokka!" Katara hissed.

**o**

It was the end of the school day before Katara saw Aang again. She stopped by his locker before they were heading towards Zuko's locker to pick up the posters.

"Hey, Aang. How are you doing?" Katara asked sympathetically.

"I'm doing okay, thanks." Aang shot her a tired smile. "Let's go get those posters from Zuko. I'm glad we're able to do something for Appa." Aang smiled as he shut his locker.

"Yeah, I can't believe Zuko could whip something up like that in such little time." Katara agreed. When they arrived down the hall at Zuko's locker they found everyone else was there already. Zuko was briefing Mai, Toph, Sokka and Suki.

"I convinced Suki to come along!" Sokka grinned as if he were a child who had just done something great and wanted praise.

"Well, Sokka told me what was going on and I wanted to help." Suki nodded at Aang.

"Thanks," mumbled Aang.

"Okay, now that everyone's here we'll be dividing into three units to cover more ground: inside, outside, and off-campus. Mai and I have already taken to off campus and we're taking the little blind girl since she can't put up posters." Zuko explained.

"Thanks, Zuko." Toph nodded.

"What?" Zuko asked.

"Afraid I'm going to staple my finger or something? Give me the paper and the stapler." Toph put her hands out. Zuko handed her a lime green sheet and one of the staplers he 'borrowed' from the copy office. Toph went over to one of the notice boards and placed the poster up there. Grabbing the stapler she tacked it up there backwards. No one said a thing for several long drawn out moments.

"It's upside down, isn't it?" Toph asked.

"So Toph is going with us!" Zuko declared. "What are the other grounds the two infantry troops taking?"

"If you'd stop treating us like the military or secret special ops men, we'll be taking inside." Katara volunteered.

"Then Suki and I will take outside!" Sokka declared. Zuko divided up the neon papers and handed it between every group.

"Questions before we begin?" Zuko asked. Aang timidly raised his hand.

"Don't raise your hand, private!" Zuko shouted.

"We aren't in the military!" Katara screamed.

"Okay, what do you want Aang?" Zuko asked.

"Is this your cell phone number on these posters?" Aang asked.

"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't want your home phone being bogged down with calls. Sometimes people will get a hold of numbers and call them to be stupid or spam it with crap. At least they can do that and get a hold of me. If they do that to me…" Zuko trailed off looking quite sinister. "Okay, then. Anymore questions?" Zuko asked.

"You gave us like a million copies. There aren't that many announcement boards." Katara stated.

"So? Was that a question? Put as many as you can everywhere you can." Zuko told her. "It'll get peoples attention."

"_Anymore_ questions?" Zuko asked.

"What—?" Sokka started.

"WHEN I SAY ANY QUESTIONS THERE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE NO MORE QUESTIONS SO WE CAN GET ON WITH OUR LIVES! IS THAT CLEAR, LIEUTENANT?!"

"Cool, I'm a Lieutenant!" Sokka grinned.

"I SAID IS THAT CLEAR?!"

"Sir, yes sir." Sokka said a little chagrinned.

**o**

They broke out into their squads. Katara and Aang set immediately to work inside with the announcement boards. Aang stapled and Katara directed him on where to put them. Sokka and Suki headed outside with Zuko, Mai and Toph. Zuko switched got them both masking tape instead of the stapler that Katara and Aang were using inside. They set off around the school starting to post the missing signs on doors, posts and fences. Meanwhile, Zuko, Mai, and Toph jumped into Zuko's car. Mai drove while Zuko sat in the passenger side to jump out every block and place a sign on every street corner or stop sign.

"This is ridiculous." Katara sighed as they stared at their piece of neon green artwork. The board was covered in posters. The one down the hall was too. Almost every board in the school was and they still had thirty or more papers in their stack.

"Hey, Katara. I think me and the guys found your dog," a voice came from behind them.

It was Jet.

"What the hell do you want, Jet?" Katara asked harshly.

"Hey, no need to be like that. I just wanted to let you know we found the dog." Jet held up a lime green poster.

"Where!?" Aang asked urgently.

"Slow down, Aang. I don't trust him as far as I can throw him." Katara hissed.

"What's with the harsh 'tude, Tara?" Jet asked.

"'What's with the harsh 'tude'? The nerve! You're only the biggest douche I know. Plus you date that bitch Azula. I'll give you a harsh 'tude." Katara spat.

"I stopped dating Azula a long time ago after she turned into that bitch. Besides, this is no time for harsh words." Jet tried to calm Katara down.

"He's right, Katara. What if he really did find Appa?" Aang told Katara.

"If your lying…" Katara mumbled.

"Come with me." Jet flashed a grin and turned away. They followed him outside.

"You see, me and the guys were out here playing some football when we saw this dog run through. We didn't want him to get lost again so we put him in this storage shed so he wouldn't run away." Jet explained as they came to the practice field. They walked to the storage shed and Jet opened the latch.

"Appa!" Aang cried as he ran forward to look inside. "Appa? I don't see him."

"He must be in there, maybe he's just afraid." Jet pushed him further in and shut the door. He latched it from the outside. Katara could hear some scuffling and she knew Aang wasn't alone in there.

"What are you doing!?" Katara ran to the door. Jet leaned against it as Aang pounded against it.

"Gerr'off!" Aang's muffled shout came through the door as one of Jet's cronies continued to attack.

"STOP IT!" Katara pounded against Jet to make him open it. She needed to get help but she was afraid to leave Aang alone in the shed. Katara immediately pulled out her cell phone but before she could dial anything Jet slapped it out of her hands.

"Why are you doing this?" Katara cried.

"Because now you'll be mine." Jet grinned as he clutched Katara's arm.

"_Stop it!_ I never liked you and never will! I love Aang!" Katara screamed at him. At that moment she saw Sokka coming around the building to come back inside.

"SOKKA! GET HELP!" Katara yelled. Sokka's face snapped up and tensed. He hissed something at Suki who snapped back at him in a retort. She came dashing across to the practice field as Sokka ran inside. As she reached the shed she made a high kick for Jet's clutch on Katara, which freed her. She finished off with a roundhouse kick to his stomach and a kick to his face, which sent him reeling backwards. Suki turned towards the shed and opened it. Aang flew out with his attacker behind him. Both of them looked beat up and worn out.

"Aang! Oh, my God!" Katara ran forward. Before Suki could get a hold of Aang's attacker, he ran off, with a limp in his step. Suki turned towards Katara and Aang. Aang had a black eye, cracked lip and bloody nose, but otherwise unharmed.

"What happened?" Suki asked.

"We were putting up posters when Jet said he found Appa. He led us out here and said that his buddies had put him in the shed for safe keeping so he wouldn't run away again. Jet shoved Aang in there and locked him in." Katara explained, as she tended to Aang's bloody nose. As Jet was slowly starting to rouse Katara turned towards the school she saw Sokka. She only expected campus security to come out to take care of this, but it was Vice Principal Kyoshi herself! As the two reached the shed Katara helped Aang up.

"What happened here?" Kyoshi asked in her cool yet demanding and threatening tone of voice.

"I suppose it's my fault, Vice Principal." Aang spoke first as he wiped away the blood one his lip.

"Your fault?" Kyoshi asked.

"You see, I have a dog that ran away. Jet said he found it and led us to this shed. He pushed me in though, where one of his friends did this to me." Aang explained.

"So, it's your fault then Jet?" Kyoshi asked.

"Are you kidding me? Do you see the way this crazy bitch came and beat me shitless?" Jet hissed. "It's their fault! They all ganged up on me! I was out here minding my own business."

"It was self-defense from you, Jet!" Suki hissed.

"I saw it with my own eyes as well, Vice Principal. Before I came to get you I saw Jet grabbing my sister." Sokka testified.

"Very well then. Detention for Jet for the next week." Kyoshi decided. Everyone except Jet breathed a sigh of relief. "As well as for Suki."

"What?" Sokka protested the loudest.

"You should not have fought back." Kyoshi determined. "It only provokes the violence."

"It was self-defense!" Suki protested.

"Detention, no buts!" Kyoshi snapped. "Jet if you will follow me back to my office we will notify your guardians right away about what has happened."

**o0o**

Okay, may be a little melodramatic/soapy, but I want to do an actual story line that's semi in line with the actual series. So stab your eyes out all you want. It's my form of entertainment. :D

And no none of Jet's cronies were Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, Pipsqueak, or any of those awesome guys. While I hate (okay, strongly dislike) Jet I do not hate any of them. They would not harm anyone, so one of Jet's buddies is just some random guy from the school that has no correlation to Avatar. Unless you find someone to relate, lol. Okay, I'm leaving now. Really I am.


	20. Plan of Attack

Oh man guys! It feels good to be backkk(again!)! Thanks for the reviews it always feels good to see people actually appreciate my random crazy story thoughts. More at the end of the chapter guys!

To catch everyone up...LAST TIME ON HOMECOMING AND PARTIES: Appa is gone guys! Jet got is super jealous of Aang so beat him up with Random Cronie A (thank you Katsumara)! Also Iroh is still the cool Uncle as always and is friends with all old people including Jeong Jeong. They visited his Chinese Restaurant 'The White Lotus'. If you've forgotten, Zuko is living with Katara and Sokka because his family is a bitch to put up with. And that's what you've missed on H&P!

**x0x**

Kyoshi stormed away with Jet in tow. Aang, Katara, Sokka and Suki looked after them in shock.

"Man, I can't believe what just happened. Dude, are you okay?" Sokka asked Aang as Katara dabbed at the blood on his face with a tissue pack she kept with her.

"You're so handy, Katara." Aang grinned underneath the blood.

"You'll be okay," Katara breathed a sigh of relief as she held him in a hug.

"Katara, I'm probably still bleeding and getting blood on your shirt." Aang mumbled into her shoulder, trying to keep the blood off of her.

"I don't care!" Katara squeezed him tighter. "I was so scared something bad might happen to you!"

"Katara, he wasn't going to be killed on the school grounds." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"You don't know if that guy had a knife on him! He could have had a gun for all I care!" Katara screamed at Sokka hysterically. Sokka gave up talking any sense into his frantic sister as Zuko's car pulled into the parking lot. It zipped up to the curb and Zuko sprang open the door, as Mai and Toph followed closely behind.

"Posters are up, what's going on out here?" Zuko asked as he realized something was wrong. He ran over to where they were standing. "Why the hell is my little freshman covered in BLOOD? Did he get too excited with the stapler or something?" Zuko asked a little sarcastically.

"Thanks for being concerned, Zuko!" Katara yelled. "And he's MY freshman!"

"Look, Zuko. Try to chill out a little. Jet just went crazy and locked Aang in a shed with one of his buddies, to beat him up. Apparently Jet hasn't gotten over Katara and this is some poor attempt to try to win her over." Sokka explained.

"That preppy emo-wannabe douchebag who was dating my sister?" Zuko asked.

"Wait…_wannabe_ douchebag?" Sokka puzzled, "That doesn't make sense, who would want to be—"

"Yeah, that'd be the one." Suki folded her arms.

"Damn, what happened? Where is the dickface? I'll beat the shit out of him right now." Zuko cracked his knuckles.

"He was taken into the office to discuss discipline measures with his guardians." Sokka explained.

"Good, I hope he's expelled." Zuko nodded.

"Well, for now, Jet and I have detention." Suki rolled her eyes.

"What? You? Why?" Toph asked.

"I was defending Katara and Aang, so I used my self defense. I got in trouble for using violence against him." Suki sighed.

"That's lame! What's with that? You stick up for your friends and you get detention? We should start a picket line in front of detention!" Toph exclaimed.

"Excellent! I'll organize it and make the signs!" Sokka slammed his fist on his open palm. "We'll have a sit in! Or whatever those things are called!" Sokka's mind began to work a million miles an hour.

"Sokka, I'll be fine." Suki rolled her eyes at him. "It's only a week."

"Then I'll try to get detention too! I won't let you go alone!" Sokka exclaimed, determined to help in someway.

"That's ridiculous, Sokka. Whatever…" Suki groaned.

"Did you guys get the posters up?" Katara asked Zuko.

"Yeah they're on every street corner. No one will miss them. If they see the dog they'll know just who to call." Zuko nodded proudly.

"Ghostbusters?" Toph grinned, not being able to resist the corny joke.

"What?" Katara furrowed her brows, confused.

"You know…who you gonna call? Ghostbusters…!" Toph tried to explain the joke. "Never mind. To tense of an atmosphere or something. What's wrong with you people?"

"Anyway, so when do the calls start coming in?" Aang asked excitedly.

"When someone sees your dog?" Zuko suggested.

"That makes sense," Aang nodded. Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Okay, back to our place for a poster hanging refreshment party!" Zuko declared as he started towards his car.

"You can't do that! It isn't your place!" Katara screamed at Zuko.

"Whatever, I figured I'm bringing Mai back to the house for a little and you guys would want to bring your…significant other for a little while so why not make it a party?" Zuko shrugged.

"What are we married? Who the hell says significant other?" Sokka rolled his eyes.

"What about me?" Toph asked.

"Of course you're invited, you live next door don't you?" Zuko rolled his eyes. "Now let's go!" Zuko ran back to his car and jumped in. "Come on, slowpokes!" Mai sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Are you coming with us, Toph?" Mai asked.

"Hell yes, she's coming with us! Come on!" Zuko honked the horn.

"Chill out, Zuko." Mai growled as she helped Toph down the steep hill.

"See you guys there I guess." Katara waved with a sigh. They headed towards Sokka's car, as Katara fussed over Aang the entire way.

"Leave the poor kid alone, Katara!" Sokka arrived at his car and unlocked it.

"It's natural for her to be worried, Sokka." Suki shrugged, as she got into the car.

"Do you want him to get blood all over your back seat?" Katara asked.

"I doubt he's bleeding that much." Sokka adjusted the rearview mirror to look at them. "Nope, just fine to me." Sokka shrugged.

"What am I going to tell Uncle Gyatso when he sees my face?" Aang sighed looking in the mirror.

"You fell over. It's a believable story." Sokka laughed as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"I don't think all of that would happen from tripping." Suki rolled her eyes, glancing back at the beat up freshman.

"Aang's more graceful than that, Sokka." Katara growled.

"All right then, tell him you got in a fight over Katara and you fought gallantly for her. And if that's all you got, you should see the other guy." Sokka told him. "Gyatso would like that you're sticking up for your girl, right?"

"He'll say that I should have avoided the fight in the first place." Aang sighed.

"He can't say too much! You lost your dog, you're already miserable. He can't punish you too much. Just give him those big eyes of yours and act like you'll cry." Sokka shrugged.

"Sokka, not helping." Katara growled as she cuddled Aang on her shoulder. "If you want, I can try to cover some of this up with make up? That way it's not noticeable?"

"Ah, Aang wear it like a man." Sokka fought Katara's solution.

"I should just tell Gyatso the truth…he wouldn't want me to lie on top of everything else." Aang came down to his decision.

"Well, come and relax at our place for a bit. You never know…we may hear something before you have to leave." Katara suggested.

When Sokka pulled into the driveway Zuko's car was already there.

"I wonder if Gran's home…" Sokka muttered.

"How else would they have gotten in?" Katara jumped out of the back seat.

"Knowing Zuko he would have picked the lock…or Toph would have kicked the door in or something." Sokka shrugged.

"Well the door is still there." Suki notified them. Sokka tried the door and it was open.

"Hello?" Sokka called as they walked in.

"In here!" Zuko replied.

"How long have you guys been here?" Katara asked.

"They walked in five minutes ago, ice cream?" Gran offered.

"Heck yeah!" Aang exclaimed. He ran into the kitchen and sat next to Mai and Zuko who were sitting at the breakfast bar. Toph was standing at the kitchen counter. Katara, Sokka and Suki sighed and followed. Gran stopped in the middle of scooping ice cream and glanced at Aang's face.

"Aang, what happened? Your eye…an-and your lip…what happened today?" Gran asked.

"Oh, this is nothing." Aang shrugged. "Ice cream?"

"Not until you tell me what happened. Katara, what happened today?" Gran asked. Katara shifted anxiously in her seat.

"You did say you weren't going to lie about it." Zuko smirked at Aang.

"Appa ran away from home last night and we were trying to find him when a couple guys gave us a hard time…but justice got served so no harm done right?" Aang shrugged. "So, ice cream…?" Aang asked.

"All right…as long as no one was seriously hurt." Gran continued to scoop the ice cream. Aang grabbed his bowl as Gran finished scooping.

"You want to be a gentleman there, Aang?" Sokka asked, nodding to Katara.

"Oh…I don't want any, thank you though." Katara smiled. Sokka reached over to grab the bowl.

"Yeah, some gentleman." Aang protected his ice cream. Zuko's cell phone started to vibrate in his pocket as he swiftly pulled it out.

"IS IT SOMEONE CALLING ABOUT APPA?" Aang screamed jumping out of his chair. Sokka snatched the ice cream. Katara smacked Sokka as Gran handed him a bowl as she rolled her eyes.

"No, Uncle." Zuko mumbled as he picked it up. "Hey, Uncle…what is it? Yeah…oh I was wondering where that jacket went…I'll pick it up next time I'm over. Uhm, I'm over at the freshman's house. He lost his dog and I was helping him out. What kind of dog? Uncle…I actually need this line in case some one is calling about him. You're not saying you saw the dog…" Zuko raised his eyebrows skeptically. "Okay, okay…speaker…Aang, explain your dog." Zuko put his cellphone on the counter.

"Uh…he's big and fluffy. He reaches about my waist and has long hair that's like a dingy white with tan or brown patches. I don't know about a breed…" Aang continued on. As Aang finished the house phone rang.

"Oh, my goodness…" Gran abandoned the ice cream and quickly headed over to the phone so it wouldn't disturb Aang.

"How was your dog taken? Did you see?" Iroh asked.

"Your asking a lot of questions…do you know anything, Uncle?" Zuko asked.

"I saw something…but I can't be sure…how did your dog disappear?" Iroh repeated.

"I-I'm not sure. I got home and he was gone. Uncle Gyatso said he let him out side for two minutes to do his business and came back and he was gone! He looked everywhere in the neighborhood but couldn't find him anywhere." Aang explained. "What do you know…?"

"Well I went back to Jeong Jeong's place again last night…I remembered we had our weekly meeting last night…" Iroh started. Aang looked at Zuko.

"Old man club." Zuko muttered shrugging his shoulders. "They play cards or something."

"And as we were finishing up the Chinese Antique shop across the street had its lights on. It was pretty late and the shop closes pretty early so we were curious what was going on, so we stood outside and talked as we kept an eye on the place for about twenty minutes. I was about to call it a night and say the shop owner forgot to turn the lights out when the owner came out of the shop and unlocked the gate to the alleyway and came back as a van pulled up. Two men got out of the van and opened the back and a dog was pulled out. I could tell it was muzzled but it was making a lot of noise…and struggling! So I knew something wasn't right. They took him into the alleyway next to the shop and I didn't see him after that, but it definitely looked like your dog." Iroh explained over the phone.

"That's a weird coincidence." Mai sighed.

"Who is this shop owner? Did Jeong Jeong know him?" Katara asked.

"Jeong Jeong said the shop owners name was Long Feng and he likes to collect rare Chinese artifacts and sell them at outrages prices." Iroh explained.

"Your dog isn't rare is he?" Sokka asked with his mouth full of ice cream.

"N-no. At least I don't think so. Gyatso had him when I came to live with him when I was real young. Appa was a puppy too. I think Gyatso said he got him from a rescue place or something like that." Aang shrugged.

"Uncle, get any information you can…we'll be up tomorrow after school." Zuko told him.

"Right, I'll do my best." Iroh agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Bye," Zuko said goodbye to his uncle.

"Goodbye!" Sokka and Katara shouted.

"Thank you!" Aang called.

"See you tomorrow!" Toph shouted.

"Bye," Mai said to the phone.

"I didn't know you all were coming…the freshman and I can take care of it by ourselves." Zuko shrugged as he closed his phone.

"No way we're letting you guys go by yourself and get all the glory!" Toph grinned.

"Besides, I'm not letting my Aang face a creepy antiques dealer who steals dogs by himself." Katara grabbed Aang's arm.

"All right! We'll all go…again." Zuko rolled his eyes. "But we all meet after school…no one better be late."

"Are you coming Suki?" Sokka asked.

"I have detention, remember?" Suki smiled, "But you guys go and get Appa back okay?"

"Besides, my car does not hold that many people." Zuko told the two. Gran emerged from the other room holding the home phone.

"Aang, your Uncle Gyatso is on the other line. He's worried since you haven't been home yet and he was expecting you." Gran handed the phone to Aang.

"Uncle Gyatso?" Aang asked as he picked up the phone.

"Aang, I just wanted to check in because I'm worried about you after loosing Appa." Gyatso's voice came over the phone.

"Yeah, well we stayed after school because Zuko wanted to put up posters for Appa. Isn't that a great idea? And we came back to Katara's house and had ice cream! And Zuko's uncle called and said he thought he saw Appa." Aang explained excitedly.

"Kanna was explaining a little of this to me…doesn't Iroh live farther up north? Like an hour? How could Appa get all the way over there?" Gyatso asked.

"Zuko's uncle said that he saw men in a van pull up to an antiques store across the street from his friends Chinese restaurant and pull Appa out of it. They had him muzzled and everything, Uncle!" Aang exclaimed. "Do you know if Appa's rare enough to be dognapped?"

"No, I'm not sure. I only found him at a rescue when he was a puppy. They didn't have any information on his breed or anything either." Gyatso sighed.

"Well we're going to go check it out tomorrow." Aang told his uncle.

"Do you need someone to drive you up there?" Gyatso offered.

"No, Zuko will. He drives that way all the time. So we're safe with him!" Aang explained already knowing what his Uncle was thinking.

"If you're sure. Maybe I should send you with some gas money to provide…it is a long way to drive and that's the second time you guys have gone in the past three days."

"Yeah, I guess so." Aang shrugged.

"How are you getting home?" Gyatso asked.

"I don't know…anyone driving me home?" Aang asked in general to the room.

"I can take you." Zuko and Sokka volunteered.

"Yeah, I have two rides if I need them so I'll be okay." Aang told his uncle. "Do I need to be home now?"

"No, just be home by dark." Gyatso told him.

"Okay, bye!"

"See you later, Aang." Gyatso hung up.

"Okay, but Mai's house is that way and Aang's house is further up by ten minutes it won't take me that long." Zuko argued.

"But Suki's house is fifteen minutes that way and Aang's is on the way back!" Sokka rebutted. "It's not out of my way."

"I'll just take him!" Zuko shouted.

"No it's easier for me!" Sokka yelled.

"GUYS! Rock-paper-scissors." Katara rolled her eyes. Sokka and Zuko whipped towards each other fists at the ready.

"RO-SHAM-BO!" they screamed at each other. Zuko's hand was clenched in a fist and Sokka's hand displayed two fingers.

"Rock beats scissors!" Zuko called.

"Best two out of three!" Sokka demanded.

"No way, you sore loser." Zuko laughed.

"So what time do you have to be home, Aang?" Katara asked, ignoring the immature boys.

"Gyatso said by dark," Aang replied.

"So what do we do until then?" Toph asked, "I'll probably have to be home by then too or else the baby sitter really will start to wonder."

"Can we get dinner or something?" Zuko asked.

"Ice cream!" Sokka declared. Aang shouted in agreement.

"You just had ice cream, you idiot. That's not a dinner anyway." Katara scolded.

"Thanks, _mom._" Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Mai and I can run out and grab some fast food." Zuko suggested.

"No, dude. You're already driving Aang. Suki and I will go grab dinner. Everyone give us your orders and throw in some cash." Sokka offered.

"If you're sure." Zuko dug in his pocket for some extra money to pay for his and most likely Mai's dinner. Sokka found a small pad of paper as people started throwing food orders at him for the nearest fast food chain, which happened to be a McDonalds.

"I want a Happy Meal!" Aang declared.

"Really? You're how old now? Twelve? You're too old for that." Zuko rolled his eyes.

"I'M FOURTEEN." Aang growled.

"Excuse me," Zuko sighed sarcastically.

"This greasy food is so bad for your skin," Katara sighed after giving her order.

"You don't have to eat it you know." Zuko told her.

"Yeah, Katara, quit complaining." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"No, I'll eat it." Katara shrugged, complacently.

"All right," Sokka gathered the pile of singles and fives that had gathered on the counter. "We'll be back in a bit!" Sokka called as he and Suki headed out the door.

"So now what?" Aang asked.

"We create a plan of attack for tomorrow!" Zuko declared.

"A what?" Katara raised her eyebrows, skeptically.

"Plan of attack! To get the dog back!" Zuko repeated. "You wouldn't happen to have a Risk board game around would you?" he asked.

"Uhm, yeah. In Sokka's room…what?" Katara realized what he was asking.

"Get it!" Zuko demanded. "Clean off the table!" he ordered.

"Whatever, if it'll keep everyone busy." Katara shrugged. She ran upstairs to her brother's room. Katara had a pretty good idea where it was at, but it looked like a bomb had gone off…it could be anywhere. But really where could you keep a board game that you never play? Her eyes shot to the highest shelves of the bookcase in the corner of the room and she caught a glimpse of the dusty box. "There you are," she muttered as she stood on tiptoes to slide it down. She hurried downstairs where everyone else was pushing things off the table onto the kitchen counter and the living room couch and even the floor. "You do a lovely job of cleaning the place up." Katara complimented as she set the box down.

"Excellent." Zuko set the box down. He opened it and unfolded the board and spilled out all the little army men that represented the troops. "Okay then! Hmm…what the hell? This isn't even a normal map!" Zuko exclaimed.

"They're territories…when was the last time you played Risk?" Katara asked him.

"Never. I just figured you would have a normal map if you wanted to take over the world…" Zuko shrugged.

"Be lucky it's not like Lord of the Rings edition and the map wasn't of Middle Earth." Katara shrugged.

"They have those?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah…" Katara nodded, unsure of what Zuko's alarm meant.

"I need to start playing Risk." Zuko replied thoughtfully. "Anyway…" He separated all the small army men. "Okay, this is how it's going down." Zuko grabbed a small black figure on a horse. "Here's the enemy. He's situated in China…otherwise known as Long Feng's Chinese Antique's Emporium or what ever the hell his shop is. Uncle Iroh," Zuko grabbed a white figurine with a gun. "Is somewhere in Mongolian territory. Since he's close. Here we'll add a couple more of these guys since Uncle's card group was there getting intel on Appa." Zuko spread a couple more of the infantrymen on the Mongolian area. "Okay, next is us. We're the artillery based in…England. Because the British are so much cooler…and they pretty much pwned in every war!" Zuko spread the blue artillerymen out on the United Kingdom island.

"Except the Revolutionary War!" Aang declared. "We pwned them!"

"All right you little—I was talking twentieth century." Zuko rolled his eyes.

"That's a tiny island for us all…" Katara pointed out. "We would fit better on America."

"Or just occupy Europe for all that trouble." Toph shrugged.

"Or Africa…" Mai pointed. "No one's using Africa."

"Australia is beautiful this time of year!" Aang pointed out.

"It is almost winter there you know." Katara corrected Aang.

"Oh, right."

"IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE WE ARE. We're floating in the damn Pacific okay?" Zuko growled.

"Don't you mean, Atlantic?" Mai asked.

"YES. Shush." Zuko growled. "Okay, so we get out of school—"

"In Atlantis." Katara quietly added.

"YES! IN ATLANTIS IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN." Zuko yelled. "Now, please. Let me finish my briefing."

"Zuko needs a career in the military." Aang whispered to Katara. Katara stifled giggles as she saw how serious Zuko was bent over his Risk map and figurines.

"SILENCE!" Zuko called. "Now! We leave school, and meet at my car!" Zuko explained.

"What about Sokka? His car will still be there…" Katara asked.

"You guys just get a ride from me…how stupid are you? Can I please finish?" Zuko asked.

"Yes, please, Captain General, sir!" Katara saluted.

"Don't mock me!" Zuko growled. "We leave from school." Zuko pushed the artillerymen across the board. "To Uncle's house…" The figures arrived in Mongolia with the infantrymen. "We receive intel on Appa. And then we proceed from Uncle's, to the antique emporium shop thing." Zuko moved all the artillerymen and one of the infantrymen to China to confront the black horse figurine. "AND WE DO WHATEVER THE HELL IT TAKES TO GET THAT DOG BACK!" Zuko declare as he flung the black cavalry horse across the room.

"YAY!" Aang shouted.

"Did you REALLY need a Risk board for all of that?" Katara asked.

"Let him feel important." Mai sighed.

**x0x**

They need to have Avatar Risk guys! I'd play that version. Y'know with the Fire Nation and you can take over the world! -imagines Zhao sitting and playing for hours- (Thank god for Wikipedia for all Risk references! I never play that game...D:)

Ugh...going back I feel so embarrassed by lack of story development and SO MANY GRAMMATICAL/SPELLING MISTAKES (this chapter is probably wrought with them). But it's like I didn't even go back and read the chapter before posting it! Well I hope my writing has improved a little. I suppose when I take years to update my writing will change. Maybe someday I'll go back and change the little things...of course when I start changing those things I'll start rewriting chapters.

All right, thanks for hanging with me for this arc here...I don't know why but if I have an AU fic it HAS to correspond someway to the series. So I wanted to do some kind of story from the series...and Aang defeating Zuko's father wasn't quite what I wanted to go for. A lost dog seemed doable. And an AU Long Feng seemed like a creepy character who would be in the Black Market right? (Whohoh...spoilers for next week!)

So yes, Dylan...I may be stretching it a little bit with some things...but my imagination can run a little wild. And YES, MORE KATAANG. Hahahahaha...

A little off of this...but I was also just reminded: Remember how much I used to write on Zuko and that's why I strayed away from Kataang? (Well that was part of it...) As I'm getting back on my Avatar craze after the movie and the announcement of the new miniseries and I'm rewatching the series like over and over again I REALIZE HOW MUCH I LOVE ZUKO. I don't think that helps my Kataang writing. So watch out for my love of Zuko continuing on a rampage. I've rewatched the fluff episodes and I'm like 'Aww I remember why I love this so much...' and then I watch Zuko-centric episodes and I'm like 'HELLZ YEAH ZUKO MAN!' Just warning ya'lls. I don't know why I'm ranting about this on a Kataang-centric fic. Just a warning to everyone hahaha.

Anyway...-coughhhh-

Katsumara, I'm trying to get my fluff in here as much as possible! And yes, Zuko and Toph are so much fun...I probably have so much fun writing them because they are my favorite characters, (exactly, not as a pairing!) But thanks! :D

Kataang 51, thanks! When I started this I never thought I could ever write AU because of all the cliches...but it's been incredibly fun!

Kitty Into Avatar, I'm so glad you like my fic! Even though your review was ages ago (as was everyones) I hope your sister is okay!

Okay...so anyone want to review and tell me how much you missed me?


	21. Mission, begin!

Alright, boys and girls! I'm back for the next installment of Homecoming and Parties! Yes...so I wanted to get this out a little sooner than I promised. But I finally got settled into college (I think I've repeated this like ten times on other fanfictions, so pardon me if I sound repetitive), and it's been keeping me super busy! But it's finally friday! So I made some time to go through and finish this up to publish! YAY! I'll address any reviews at the bottom, so please enjoy!

**Note: **Just a quick note before I jump in. I said something about Aang being a vegetarian in here somewhere and a previous chapter Aang ate chicken at the Chinese Restaurant. Yes, he is a vegetarian, I for some reason wanted Aang to eat chicken that chapter. I must have really been in the mood for Sweet and Sour Chicken...BUT, YES, he's a vegetarian. Before I get reviews saying 'HOMG FIVE CHAPTERS AGO, TEN PARAGRAPHS DOWN, THREE SENTENCES AND TWO WORDS IN IT SAYS HE ATE CHICKEN. IS HE A VEGETARIAN OR WHAT?' I should go back and edit these things...

**0o0o0o0**

"All right, guys! Food!" Sokka announced to the room as he and Suki came in through the front door. "What the hell is up with…this?" Sokka asked nearly dropping the sacks of food as he reached the battle planning that Zuko had set up in their kitchen.

"Sergeant. The army wants you! WE HAVE A TOP SECRET MISSION FOR YOU TOMORROW AND THIS IS HOW IT'S GOING DOWN." Zuko shouted at Sokka.

"WHAT THE HELL? Okay, guys. Who thought it was a good idea to give Zuko a Risk board?" Sokka dumped his fast food bags on the board. The small pieces that had been picked up after Zuko's reenactment earlier were once again tossed to the floor.

"NOT COOL, MAJOR!" Zuko shouted as he dove for the pieces.

"I was just a sergeant! And today I was a lieutenant." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Do not talk back, private or I'll keep demoting you!" Zuko shouted.

"Is a sergeant above or below a lieutenant?" Sokka asked as he grabbed his Big n' Tasty and large fries from the bag.

"It doesn't matter. YOU ARE DEMOTED." Zuko declared.

"Okay. I'm still on the mission tomorrow, right? I mean…coming to get Appa and all that?" Sokka sucked down some Coke from his large drink he had ordered.

"I don't know. It sounds like you were demoted. You may have to scrub the barracks or something like that." Mai shrugged.

"You stay out of this, he's the leader." Sokka snapped at Mai.

"Well, she's second in command." Zuko put his hands on his hips.

"Way to be prejudiced and giving your girlfriend top ranks!" Sokka growled. "I don't have to give you food!"

"I paid for it." Zuko grabbed for the bag.

"Come on you two!" Katara slapped the back of Sokka's hand.

"But, Katara!" Sokka exclaimed, "Zuko—!"

"Isn't doing anything but being stupid, grow up." Katara rolled her eyes. Aang giggled as he grabbed the salad Sokka ordered for him.

"Damn vegetarians." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"So can we have a real discussion about Appa without the game board?" Katara asked grabbing a fork to share Aang's salad.

"Yeah, well what is there to discuss?" Sokka asked. "We go to Iroh's place ask him what he thinks and then head over to this guys store and confront him about it."

"Shouldn't we get the police involved?" Katara asked.

"We can't unless we have proof, can we?" Toph asked.

"Well, what if we get there and he pulls a gun on us and threatens us?" Katara asked.

"What is it with you and your imagination! People don't just 'pull guns' on people." Sokka groaned.

"This guy sounds crazy." Katara tried to clarify her statement.

"An old antique dealer, who on weekends steals dogs. If anything he has mental issues." Zuko shrugged.

"_Yeah, _he could go _mental_ and SHOOT us all!" Katara screamed.

"What the fuck, Katara? Settle down! You're freaking Aang out." Sokka gestured towards the freshman that hadn't said anything all conversation.

"I'm just enjoying my meal, that's why I haven't joined in the conversation. I do think that's a little absurd Katara. People don't just shoot people." Aang shrugged.

"Crazy antique dealers who steal dogs might." Katara rolled her eyes.

"Just relax, we'll have my uncle." Zuko tried to calm her.

"And is he some acting force field against everything that's bad?" Katara demanded.

"Basically, yeah." Zuko shrugged without much further explanation.

"Iroh knows how to deal with situations…is what I think he's trying to say." Mai translated.

"Well, will he be able to deal with a bullet through our head?" Katara screeched.

"Katara! The paranoia is a little much! Cool it. Don't come if you don't want." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"I have to protect Aang through!" Katara cried.

"Then come, for God's sake." Toph sighed, "But you better not be doing this the entire time and hyperventilating and all that shit or I swear to cheese I will punch you so hard you won't remember who Aang is."

"All right, all right." Katara growled.

**x**

All day the next day Aang waited anxiously for the end of school. At the last bell he rushed to the front of the school. He had left everything he didn't need in his locker the period before school let out. Aang hurried out of the school to the parking lot and rushed to find Zuko's car.

"Where's the fire?" Zuko appeared behind Aang.

"How—?" Aang stuttered.

"I had free period at the end of the day and I hung around outside until the end of the day." Zuko shrugged.

"You and your useless classes! TA and free period…what else are you taking? Into to Drawing?" Aang rolled his eyes.

"Hey, that is a very important class. First of all it gets out a lot of anxiety. You don't know how well drawing relieves stress. And now I can properly shade and draw still life!" Zuko explained. Aang gave him a skeptical look. "I would expect you to be taking something like freshman drawing."

"I took it last semester." Aang shrugged.

"Of course you did. Technically I already have all the credits I need to graduate…" Zuko shrugged. "So did you seriously run from your last class?"

"Yeah? So? I wanted to get out of here so we can get to Appa!" Aang exclaimed. "Let's go!"

"Settle down there, we have to wait for everyone else." Zuko sighed. "There's Mai!" Zuko called as he waved to her, forgetting about Aang completely, who looked like he was about to say something.

"I thought we were meeting at your car." Mai sighed drably as he kissed her cheek with a grin.

"We were, Freshman over here got antsy and was down here as the bell was ringing." Zuko explained with a shrug.

"Ah. Well we told everyone the car." Mai explained. "Let's go."

"All right." Zuko agreed. "So you didn't even wait for your girlfriend after class?" Zuko asked Aang.

"I don't see you waiting for your girlfriend outside of class." Aang retorted, harshly.

"He has a point, Zuko. You had a free period." Mai shrugged her backpack up her shoulder.

"Really? Do you need me to walk you out to the car? It looks pathetic when boys follow girls around all the time holding their hand and waiting outside their classrooms." Zuko argued.

"Well, why did you ask Aang, then?" Mai asked, seeming to agree with Zuko. Aang seemed uncomfortable since he considered himself, at least on the verge, of being 'one of those boys'. He liked spending time with Katara! So what? He was allowed to carry her books or walk her to class or hold her hand.

"Because he was out here so damn fast! I was expecting he'd wait for his little friends!" Zuko mumbled. "Guess not."

They found Zuko's car and Katara was waiting for them already.

"Katara!" Aang hurried forward and kissed her cheek.

"There you are!" Katara grinned.

"What? Did YOU run from your last class?" Zuko asked.

"I wanted to get going as soon as possible! Also…our class was let out like five minutes early." Katara shrugged.

"Where's Sokka and Toph?" Zuko asked.

"I don't know! I'm not their keeper!" Katara sighed.

"I think I see Toph and Sokka." Mai interrupted. Zuko, Katara and Aang snapped their heads in the direction of the school. Toph appeared to be dragging Sokka towards the car.

"Sorry we took so long!" Toph declared, with a smug look on her face.

"Toph!" Sokka exclaimed, trying to peel her firm grip off of him.

"That wasn't that long…" Zuko shrugged eying the two suspiciously.

"Sokka had to say goodbye to his girlfriend like it was the last time he was going to see her." Toph rolled her eyes.

"Of course." Katara rolled her eyes.

"We're going on a top secret, high class mission! I had to say goodbye in case…well you know." Sokka glanced around the group with a loud gulp.

"Oh, come on Sokka." Katara rolled her eyes. "Nothing is going to happen!"

"You're the one with the paranoia…" Sokka grumbled, continuing to rub his ear.

"All right, everyone in the car." Zuko rolled his eyes. "Mai, Toph…in the front. Everyone else—in the back." Zuko turned and opened the door to his car.

"Why do you treat us like…like…you're using favoritism!" Katara exclaimed as she reached for the car door.

"Toph, fits better on the bench seat up here. Also, Mai's my girl so she rides shotgun." Zuko explained as if Katara were stupid. Mai rolled her eyes at Zuko with a smirk as she got in after Toph.

**x**

Before long they were on the road again. Zuko wasn't sure why he let all these idiots come along. They were just distractions. If anything it should just be he and Aang. It was the kid's dog. Even Mai, who was usually on Zuko's side, was not helping things as she fueled the back seat's stupidity. Luckily, Toph had brought her iPod that she used on rare occasion when she really wanted to shut herself off from the world. Zuko was jealous of the girl sitting next to him. The hysteria occurring in the car was about to drive him up the wall.

"If you guys don't shut up, I'm not getting the damn dog back!" Zuko eventually shouted.

"We're sorry! Keep driving!" Aang pleaded grabbing a hold of the driver's seat.

"Okay, settle down!" Zuko gripped the steering wheel. "It'll be amazing if we get there without getting in an accident, the way all of you are acting!" After a little bit longer of this tense driving, they pulled off the highway.

"Mai, find my Uncle's number and dial it." Zuko handed his phone over. Mai sighed with a shrug as she took the phone. Her painted-black fingernails stroked the keys and within a couple seconds she handed it back. Zuko maintained focus on the road as he held the phone to his ear.

"Hey, Uncle, we just got into town—yeah, that's what…Okay." Zuko's neck craned over his left shoulder as he whipped into the left lane. "We'll be there in ten minutes then. See you then." Zuko hung up. "We're meeting at Jeong Jeong's place." The light gave them an arrow and Zuko turned left. Katara squeezed Aang's hand tightly as she noted his anxious glances out the window. He smiled lightly back at her before returning his glance out the window.

"We're almost there, right? I hate long car rides…" Toph mumbled, clutching her head.

"I told you, you didn't have to come if you didn't want to." Zuko rolled his eyes as he got into another turn lane to go right. He made sure it was clear before turning.

"I just hate not being on solid ground for this long, I like to feel solid earth beneath me." Toph folded her arms.

"Well, not my problem that you're blind. We're like three minutes away, can you hold on that long?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah, yeah…" Toph sighed. Zuko finally pulled into the restaurants parking lot and found a parking spot. Everyone hurried out of the car to stretch.

"Come on, inside!" Zuko commanded the group. When they entered a host greeted them.

"How many in your party?" he asked.

"We're here to see the owner's old man club." Zuko told the host. The host only replied with an odd look. "You're going to make me say it aren't you? We're here to meet with the Order of the White Lotus…" Zuko mumbled.

"Ah, very well. This way." The host nodded, finally understanding. The host guided them to a back private room. He knocked three times on the door and said, "Sir, there's a group of children out here to see you."

"We aren't children! Jeong Jeong, it's me Zuko! Is my Uncle in there?" Zuko called, pushing his way to the door. The host looked a little upset at being pushed out of the way.

"What is going on out here?" Jeong Jeong snapped the door opened. Zuko jumped away, in shock.

"W-we're here…and we were wondering if…we-well is my Uncle in there…" Zuko tried to peek behind Jeong Jeong.

"Iroh! You're idiot nephew is here." Jeong Jeong turned around.

"Hey!" Zuko shouted. Iroh appeared at the door.

"Come, nephew…" Iroh smirked.

"Why, can't we discuss it in the secret club room? Aren't they helping us?" Zuko asked.

"They already have…" Iroh led them to an unoccupied table that had been reserved for them.

"So, what's going on? Where's Appa?" Aang asked, anxiously.

"That's right…this is your dog. Why is Zuko being the impatient one?" Iroh chuckled. The entire group looked at Iroh, waiting for him to tell them about Appa. He sensed that it was not the right atmosphere to be telling jokes.

"All right. This is what I've collected so far." Iroh started. "I told you last night that I saw the van pull into the alley across the street, right? There hasn't been any activity all day, we've been watching."

"So what? Do they have Appa or not?" Sokka asked.

"Well, they're not doing any business today…so they must be concentrated on doing something else…like Appa?" Katara suggested.

"Why would anyone want Appa?" Aang sighed.

"They're dog collectors? I don't know! But we'll get him back!" Sokka punched Aang on the shoulder. Aang tenderly rubbed his arm.

"Sokka!" Katara scolded Sokka.

"Look, if the lights are off it won't hurt to go take a look around." Zuko shrugged.

"That's trespassing, Zuko!" Katara hissed.

"It's a store and it's closed. I can walk around the building. I never said I was breaking in, so relax." Zuko shrugged.

"Well, if you're going then I'm going!" Sokka called.

"Me, too! Appa's my dog!" Aang shouted.

"You can't all go at once! You'll get caught!" Katara folded her arms.

"You're just worried about your boyfriend." Zuko rolled his eyes.

"No, she is right. You can't all charge over to take a look, it'll look suspicious." Iroh explained.

"So what? We can't let one person go over by themselves!" Katara threw her arms up.

"You are so irrational! Dear, God! One person goes and looks and another is a look out. We have a signal in case things get dangerous. We don't do anything…just look. Good enough for you?" Zuko asked, exasperatedly.

"Okay, I can accept that." Katara sighed, rolling her eyes at him. "Who's going?"

"I will. Who's the lookout?" Zuko volunteered. Aang's arm shot up immediately.

"Me!" Aang declared. "It's my dog," he clarified. Katara automatically looked concerned.

"Aang!" Katara exclaimed, "You don't have to go! What if you guys get caught? What if the owner has a gun and shoots you or something?"

"Katara! Again with the guns! Let the kid go. Zuko's the one looking around and Aang's the lookout, if anyone's going to get hurt it'll be Zuko." Sokka tried to comfort Katara.

"All right, that makes me feel better I suppose." Katara sighed before hugging Aang.

"Yep, I think that makes everyone feel better," Zuko rolled his eyes.

"That made me feel so much better, knowing you'll be the one in the face of danger." Mai agreed with Zuko, her eyes traveling towards the ceiling.

"Don't tell me _you're_ worried too?" Zuko smirked at Mai.

"I have faith in your ninja skills. It's not like your vandalizing the place." Mai sighed. Zuko grinned at her, placing a kiss on her lips before standing up.

"All right, Aang. Let's move out." Zuko commanded.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Okay, then! ALMOST TO APPA GUYS. Review tiem!

Katsumara, lol I think a long time ago you reviewed about naming Jet's cronies...I always go through and answer/reread everyone's reviews before posting a new update to make sure I address any issues so I saw probably saw it from like YEARS ago and included it. Soo...that may be why you don't remember that review...or this review, since it's been like three months lol

Kataang-is-MYLIFE, I love doing text talk! I totally forgot about it...hmm maybe I should include some in soon. Hmm...thanks for that reminder...hahaha...that was a good Avatar-filled Christmas! That really reminds me how old this fic is...that Christmas was so long ago!

Taanglover, its cute when brothers are protective. :) I have a younger brother and sometimes I have to remind myself he's not my twin or my older brother. He's taller than me and SOMETIMES can act more mature. SOMETIMES. And I'd like to think he'd be protective of me if there were ever a situation where it came to it...hahah;D

Master Arrowhead, thanks! I know, about the emphasis on Zuko! It's something my inner-fangirl does subconsciously! I have to try to beat her down with a good dose of Kataang...but sometimes Zuko still triumphs.

libowiekitty, thanks! First of all the movie. I was sorely disappointed. I was one of the fans who was really excited for it from the beginning and even more so when the trailer was released, and after the bad acting/writing/casting/overall directing I was pretty upset with it. I still liked it for what it was, Avatar and I'm glad the franchise finally is big enough for them to get a major motion picture made. But meh. When it gets released I'll put it on my Christmas list and see if someone will buy it for me. Hope there's a blooper reel on it or something. AS FOR THE NEW SERIES. *FOAMS AT MOUTH* Who can't be excited for this? I just can't wait to get more pictures/more information than we have. I'm really excited it's more Steampunk based/more mature. I feel like this is going to be a GREAT series. I just hope they sign on for more than just 12 episodes!

KataangDieHard, lol! I don't even think I intended Aang being 'a big boy' to be funny! Well, maybe I did. I definitely intended the 'Gay Thongs' to be! I should bring those 'Gay Thongs' back too...

cpdx, (sorry about the typo...) sorry! I know I go crazy with Zuko...I just CAN'T HELP IT! (see response to Master Arrowhead above).

The Confused Airbender, How can you not get emotional when he does? I love the depth to the show...it makes it so much more real...GAH. I want to go watch the show so much now!

andreskataang, if I understood you correctly...maybe someday, but they're still in high school for now! Marriage is a long way a way. We'll see how long this fic manages to last ;D

If I didn't mention your review, I definitely saw it! These are just the reviews I had an 'OMG I NEED TO REPLY TO THIS' urge. Other than that, thank you to everyone who reviews. Every single review is appreciated!


	22. Reunited

LOL JUST REALIZED, ALMOST FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS FIC. I don't know how to feel about that...D:

Back to finish this little story arc up! Thank goodness for Fall Break! Even though my friends and family have been keeping me super busy, I've finally gotten to finish this chapter up. Probably isn't my best chapter...probably because I planned it so long ago and then by the time I finally fleshed it all out I had forgotten exactly where I was going with it /depression/. I really appreciate everyones patience...even though it does take me a while to update I still enjoy writing this fic.

**0o0o0o0**

Aang and Zuko left the restaurant.

"Okay, do you have a plan?" Aang asked. He glanced at the dark shop across the street and gulped. It was intimidating…but Appa was in there.

"Just wait like two seconds, okay? We have to observe the place and determine what to do and where to infiltrate." Zuko's eyes scanned the store across the street.

"You're the only one going in though…right?" Aang asked. "I'm just keeping an eye out?"

"Yeah…" Zuko nodded.

"Do we have a signal in case something some thing happens?" Aang asked.

"Nope, just make a racket if anything's happens." Zuko shrugged.

"Uh…" Aang stuttered.

"Relax, we'll be fine." Zuko shrugged. "Come on," Aang followed Zuko across the street. "Just stand out here and keep an eye out. Try to look natural and like your not keeping an eye out….Okay?" Zuko asked. Aang nodded nervously as Zuko hurried into the alley that led behind the shop. Aang sighed and stood against the building next to the antiques emporium. He anxiously shifted his weight back and forth and picked at his fingernails. He was so anxious he could hardly concentrate enough to keep an eye out. Even if Katara was completely irrational, she was right to be worried. He didn't exactly think people were going to start shooting everyone, but there was a possibility of being caught or possibly hurt by the men in the shop. Aang jumped when he heard footsteps approaching from the alley. He could hardly draw breath to scream before he realized it was Zuko.

"I see a kennel back there, but I can't be sure it's Appa's." Zuko pulled Aang down the street.

"Zuko, where—?" Aang asked.

"Just walk, I'm not sure if someone saw me." Zuko hissed as he tugged Aang along.

"Okay, well this looks suspicious, slow down to a normal walking speed." Aang tore away from Zuko. "Who did you see?"

"I just saw a figure move inside." Zuko breathed. "So I got out of there as fast as I could." They reached a stoplight and Zuko pushed the pedestrian button, to walk. There wasn't much traffic and they could have easily made it across, but waiting for the 'Walk' signal gave Zuko a chance to catch his breath. Eventually the signal changed and they walked across the street in silence and casually made their way back to the Jeong Jeong's restaurant. Katara greeted them outside.

"What happened?" Katara demanded. Zuko stared at her, sighed and went inside to find his uncle. "What?" Katara asked Aang.

"He saw a kennel behind the store but he's not sure if it's Appa's. But he also saw someone inside move and he wasn't sure if he was seen or not." Aang explained.

"I knew this was a bad idea." Katara sighed, rubbing her temples.

"No one's been shot yet, though…so…" Aang tried to comfort her.

"Are you making fun of me?" Katara folded her arms.

"No!" Aang nervously laughed. Katara furrowed her eyebrows. Aang nervously bit his lip before moving in to kiss her. She gave in and kissed him for a moment before pulling away from him.

"Aang, I'm genuinely worried for you." Katara growled, "And you think this is a joke?"

"No, I don't, Katara! But you have been acting a little irrational…" Aang shrugged.

"I'm—!"

"Yes, you're worried. Will you two stop making out and come inside…we need to decide on what we're going to do." Sokka stuck his head out of the door. A couple was headed to the door Sokka was blocking, he sighed as he moved out of the way and held it open.

"Wow, this restaurant even has a door man! This is a classy restaurant." The woman exclaimed. Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Are you two coming are not?" Sokka growled.

"No, I think you make a good doorman." Katara laughed as a family walked up and went into the restaurant, each of them thanking Sokka as they walked through.

"You guys! I'm leaving you out here, I'll go get Zuko if I have to!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Oh, no! Not Zuko!" Katara sighed, dramatically. "Anyone but Zuko! I'm terrified!" Aang chuckled at Katara's sarcasm as he followed her into the restaurant. Sokka growled as he followed his sister and his friend inside. They meandered their way back to the table where everyone else was sitting.

"So, now what?" Katara asked as she sat down.

"Zuko, saw someone inside didn't he? I say we go knock down their door and demand the dog back!" Toph exclaimed.

"We aren't positive they have Appa." Zuko shrugged.

"Iroh saw them with Appa! And you said they had a kennel in the back?" Toph shrugged.

"What if this is all some freakish coincidence and Appa just ran off and the place across the street is just…" Aang shrugged, searching for the right words.

"Bringing muzzled dogs in the middle of the night?" Sokka asked.

"On the _same_ night as Appa goes missing?" Toph shrugged.

"Like, I said. Some weird coincidence?" Aang sighed. "I don't feel right just going over there and demanding something we aren't completely sure about."

"Okay, we're ninety-eight percent sure. Really, how much proof do you need? Do you want your dog back or not?" Sokka exclaimed.

"Can we decide what we're doing? I'm exhausted and want to get home sometime tonight." Mai sighed.

"Okay, how about we go over there and knock on the door and question whoever is in there about it. If we think it's going to turn bad then…we'll get out of there and call the cops or whatever." Toph shrugged.

"No cop is going to investigate an old Chinese man about a stolen dog." Zuko rolled his eyes.

"I don't see you coming up with any ideas, Scarface!" Toph shouted at him.

"I—bu—How?" Zuko scrutinized the blind girl. "_WHAT DO YOU FEEL MY FACE WHEN I'M ASLEEP? HOW DID YOU KNOW I HAVE THIS SCAR?" _Zuko exploded.

"Zuko, does that matter now?" Katara sighed.

"Yes, Zuko. I wait until everyone's asleep and I go around and touch everybody's face. I have a right to know what facial features you all have, right?" Toph shrugged sarcastically.

"Toph, stop being creepy…" Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Oh, Sokka. I want to feel your face though…" Toph reached out and grabbed Sokka's face, pinching his cheek.

"Toph! This isn't the time!" Katara growled. "We should just go home and call someone about this, we shouldn't be the ones taking care of this!"

"We shouldn't let the guy just get away with Aang's dog though. By the time we call someone to investigate, this guy could have sold Appa, or chopped him up to eaten him in his dinner!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Uncle, decide what we're going to do. I'm done arguing over this." Zuko yawned.

"I agree with Sokka and Toph. We need to take action." Iroh nodded. "If we walk over there as a group and knock on the door and politely ask if they've seen the dog, we may get results. Even if we run into any trouble with the owner I have back up right across the street." Iroh nodded to the restaurant around them. "I'll tell Jeong Jeong to keep an eye out for us. Let's go." Iroh motioned for them to stand up and move out.

"Now?" Katara asked, taken aback.

"Yes, when else?" Toph questioned as she stood up.

"No, let's go…" Katara shrugged. Iroh hurried off to inform Jeong Jeong to watch the shop before they left the restaurant. They exited the restaurant, and the group crossed the road to the antiques shop.

"Are you sure about this? It's so dark inside!" Katara exclaimed. Iroh raised his fist and knocked on the door. The chimes on the inside of the glass-paneled door rattled. There was no movement inside. Iroh knocked once more and they spotted a man coming to the door.

"Can't you see that we're closed?" the man shouted, which they assumed was Long Feng, of Long Feng's Chinese Antique's Emporium.

"Yes, yes. I apologize to inconvenience you!" Iroh called. "I have a question about your _business."_ The man, Long Feng, stopped and slowly approached the door.

"How much money do you have? What are you interested in? I don't remember receiving any contacts or scheduling anything for tonight…" Long Feng asked through the door.

"I've heard you have something we're interested in." Iroh called. "Now, can you please open the door, so we can properly talk?"

Long Feng tentatively opened the door to the shop.

"I don't know how you heard about…my little business…but…" Long Keng mumbled.

"My Uncle saw your men take a dog." Zuko grabbed a hold of the door and pulled it open.

"Zuko…now, now. Let's not be hasty…" Iroh chuckled.

"Wh-what…the hell do you want?" the shop owner stuttered. The group slowly pushed their way into the shop. It was mostly dark except for a light coming for the back room.

"You see…Appa was my dog…I'd kindly like to ask for him back." Aang declared.

"Shut up, Aang. That never gets you anywhere." Zuko hissed.

"That was your dog, then? Hmm…most interesting…" the Long Feng asked.

"Yes, he was _my _dog!" Aang exclaimed.

"That still doesn't change the fact that the dog is a rare breed." Long Feng furrowed his brows. "In fact I already have a buyer and I'll be in some deep trouble if the man who is interested in the dog doesn't receive what he wants."

"Look, we need the dog, buddy." Zuko pushed his way in front of Iroh. Long Feng reached inside his robes that he was wearing. Mai flinched and reached forward as he pulled out what looked like a concealed knife. She deflected it away from her and twisted it wrist as she pulled the knife away from Long Feng.

"We just want to do things peacefully…no need to pull a knife…" Mai sighed, in an uninterested voice.

"Damn, Mai!" Sokka exclaimed, standing petrified.

"With paranoid parents like mine…all that self-defense didn't go to waste." Mai shrugged as she inspected the knife, carefully.

"So, what was the price the dog was going to bring in? I'll pay double." Iroh pulled his checkbook out. Long Feng perked up, as his eyes grew wide.

"Iroh!" Aang exclaimed in shock.

"We don't want any trouble…we just want the dog back." Iroh promised. The man looked conflicted for a moment.

"I want fifteen thousand," he declared.

"Don't joke, you bastard." Zuko growled. "If you think your stringing my old man along, I don't think you're so cute."

"Zuko, Zuko…the man is confused. Let me talk to him privately." Iroh suggested.

"Will you be okay?" Zuko asked, tentatively.

"I'm a military veteran of twenty years service. I've seen worse than this. I'll be okay." Iroh grinned to Zuko. Zuko, who was clearly still worried, rolled his eyes at his Uncle. His goofy tea-loving Uncle did not seem the type to be 'okay' in these situations. "Do you have somewhere we can speak privately?" Iroh turned to Long Feng. He appeared irked at how he was being treated in his own shop, and at his own game. The shop owner led Iroh to his back room. As soon as the door shut the group of teens burst into hushed mumbles.

"Guys, I'm worried about this." Katara hissed.

"God, of course you are…" Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Can Iroh seriously pay that much just to get Appa back? He can't—I don't want him too…" Aang stuttered.

"He has to have some sort of plan up his sleeve." Mai commented quietly as she clutched Zuko's arm. They patiently waited for another ten minutes. The tension grew as everyone kept nervously glancing towards the back room.

"This place is so creepy…" Katara sighed as she rested her head on Aang's shoulder. Eventually the back door opened and everyone snapped to attention. Iroh was the first to appear. Everyone waited with baited breath.

"So…?" Aang finally asked.

"Appa is rightfully yours." Iroh smiled. "We may follow Mr. Feng to retrieve Appa out of the kennel in the back," he gestured to the elderly Asian man behind him.

"Just like that?" Zuko muttered.

"We'll talk later, my nephew." Iroh nodded. The group followed Long Feng to the back door where he opened the door and went to the medium sized kennel and opened it.

"There," the antiques dealer sighed, with a scowl. Appa timidly poked his nose out.

"Appa!" Aang exclaimed. Appa perked up and cautiously jogged over to Aang who scratched him behind the ears. "Thank God!"

"Good night, Mr. Feng." Iroh nodded as they turned and headed back through the store. As they left the store everyone exhaled a breath that they seemed to be holding in.

"I can't believe Appa's back…" Aang sighed as they crossed the street back to the restaurant.

"This is great and all…but how are we going to get Appa home in my car for a ridiculously long drive?" Zuko groaned.

"He can sit on my lap…or at my feet!" Aang chuckled and scratched Appa's ears.

"Appa, we're so happy you're back!" Katara grinned.

"As long as he doesn't like _go_ in the car…" Zuko rolled his eyes. "Let's load up then…I'm exhausted."

"Do you need me to drive, Zuko?" Mai asked.

"No, I'll be fine." Zuko shrugged. "Let's go."

**0o0o0o0**

Uhm...notes...Okay, Long Feng, I wanted to have him apart of this whole dognapping business, but I never write him, so yes? No? Meh. MOAR KATAANG? LESS ZUKO? Yes, I know. D: I'm trying. I really am. I need a shippers rehab plz. Also, yes, Zuko has a scar in this fic...because Zuko just isn't Zuko without his scar and Daddy issues...have I addressed that? I feel I've thought about that...urgh. He has a scar from when Azula 'accidentally' pushed him into the kitchen stove as a child. JUSTIFIED.

Also, thanks for all messages, reviews, SUPPORT, JUST EVERYTHING. This story would not be here today if it weren't for you guys. No seriously. It wouldn't. FOR REALS.

Conn, I think it's more...hrm...realistic? Maybe? If Aang isn't like 'master of all kung fu' kid. How many kids do you know who that disciplined to practice like that? I've personally always loved the adorkable, goofy, fun-loving side to Aang, so maybe that's kind of why when I wrote him he turned out to be more of a wimp than a badass. *shrug* Perhaps I will have him begin a discipline of kung fu or something...that may be interesting.

The Confused Airbender, I'm so glad you like it :D, I don't want to be boiled in oil! Yeah I totally know what you mean about the movie! THERE WAS LIKE NO ACTING. And the bending...D:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! (to those who celebrate! And those who don't, just eat a lot anyway...;D)


	23. Study Buddies!

Hey, guys! Yeah, it took me all holiday break to write this. What of it? It seems like I had to see like twice as many relatives, because apparently you disappear forever when you go to college two hours away from home. And then I got sick for half of break, and you don't really want me trying to write and be sick at the same time right? But today was the first day of the semester so I figured I'd get this out before I got super busy. Unless you'd rather me postpone it further and write more? You're call. For now this. More at the end.

Oh, and Facebook. I've done IM, and maybe text? I can't remember...(I have so many other unpublished other fics that use text I can't remember) GUH. So I used Facebook in honor of the lame-sauce new profiles. I know you can't really WRITE Facebook, but here's my shot at it.

**0o0o0o0o0**

**Welcome to Facebook**!

News Feed

**Aang **

Glad to have my best buddy back home with me.

About an hour ago – like – comment

^You and 12 other people like this

^View all 10 comments

**Zuko **Aw, I'm glad to be home too. _13 minutes ago _– Like

**Katara **Douche, leave him alone. _11 minutes ago –_ 1 person – Like

**New Message from Suki**

**Suki **

So how was the heroic mission? Successful I see?

**Sokka**

I DIDN'T THINK I'D EVER SEE YOU AGAIN. FUCK LIET MET CALL YOU.

Sokka slammed his laptop shut engulfing his entire room in darkness. He felt his way around his nightstand to hear his phone vibrating on the floor across the room. Sokka jumped off the bed and grabbed it, answering the phone.

"Suki! I love you so much!" Sokka answered.

"What happened?" Suki asked.

"The guy had a knife! And Mai was badass, but you probably would have been more badass if you were there and Iroh had to pay the guy like a gajillion dollars just to get Appa out of there safely it was insane!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Okay, I'll get the story from Katara…no she dramatizes things to much…Toph…she'd hype it up too much…I'll get the story from Mai tomorrow at school." Suki sighed.

"Speaking of tomorrow…TGIF in like ten minutes!" Sokka glanced at his digital clock as he climbed back up onto his bed.

"TGIF…we do have finals coming up soon though…did you forget?" Suki asked.

"Finals? Yeah, those things I blow off at the end of each semester?" Sokka asked.

"Sokka…we should study this weekend."

"Hey, that was funny cause I was just going to ask you on a date this weekend."

"We can have a study date," Suki amended his date plan. Sokka was about to complain before Suki interrupted. "I'll make food and bring it over."

"Suh-weet!" Sokka grinned.

**(1) Facebook**

**Katara**

**Sokka** and **Suki** need to find a quieter way to talk at midnight on a school night.

Moments ago – Like – Comment – View Post

**Sokka **STFU

2 seconds ago – Like

"Are you getting too loud for Katara?" Suki laughed at the Facebook update.

"Yeah," Sokka laughed. Katara stuck her face in his room.

"Seriously." Katara sighed.

"Alright, I have to go. Text me or Facebook if you need anything else tonight. Goodnight." Sokka sighed. He hung up and exasperatedly shrugged at Katara. His phone screen lit up with vibration as Katara left the room. Sokka picked up his phone and opened to his inbox.

**Suki**

When do u want to get 2gether this weekend? _May 13 12:02 AM_

Sokka hurriedly typed out a response: 'idk, friday? afterschool?' and hit send. Suki responded: 'do u want me to bring food or not? make it evening'. Sokka replied: 'ilu, works 4 me' before falling asleep without getting under the covers.

**x**

The next morning at school Sokka excitedly hurried over to Suki's locker before lunch. He found his sister already there talking to her.

"Hello." Sokka coldly greeted his sister. He planted a kiss on Suki's cheek with a grin. "Where's the sidekick-boyfriend? He has this lunch…unless I've been imagining him all semester?" Sokka asked.

"He's finishing up a Biology lab." Katara sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Eww, are you still going to want to touch him after he's touched frog guts?" Sokka asked.

"Sokka! It's not even the dissection lab! They're just looking under slides on the microscopes." Katara shrugged.

"Or are they doing the reproductive system? Remember when they did that in, what grade was that like sixth? Seventh? Aang wouldn't look at you for a week he was so embarrassed!" Sokka laughed.

"Still bringing that up are you?" Katara sighed. "He should only be another ten minutes…so I'll hang out with you guys until then."

"Whatever, we're not interesting at all." Sokka shrugged. "Anyway, Suki, you still coming over tonight?"

"Yes, did you think I forgot?" Suki rolled her eyes.

"Aw, I was going to have Aang over to study for finals!" Katara sighed.

"That's what we're doing! Just have Aang over and we'll have a study party!" Suki invited.

"Yeah right, like Sokka's getting any studying done." Katara rolled her eyes.

"That's what I'm worried about, too." Suki smirked. "Don't worry."

"You guys have absolutely no faith in me!" Sokka exclaimed. "Besides you and the freshman would be the ones not getting any studying done! He's taking freshie classes. You're in like smart classes." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Which is a lot more than you can say," Katara rolled her eyes. "Maybe Aang can help you study." Katara retorted. "Also, can you take me to get my license sometime this week?" Katara begged.

"Finally! You only turned sixteen like ten years ago." Suki squealed.

"She'd be like twenty-six, Suki." Sokka rolled his eyes. Suki and Katara ignored him.

"I know, I wanted to wait till the summer…it's more convenient." Katara shrugged.

"That and someone was too lazy to track all their hours." Sokka rolled his eyes. "Someone's going to have to go through hell coming up with bogus hours."

"Oh, Sokka. You know I got all my hours in. But, I don't have a car of my own, which means…" Katara looked over at Sokka.

"Which means you can use Gran's, she never goes out on her own except for doing old lady things." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Like going to church and the grocery store?" Suki laughed.

"Yes! Though Gran probably has to take you to do all that stuff. You did the driving with her…I think she has to turn the paperwork in and sign off…if I'm remembering right?" Sokka looked at Suki.

"I don't know," Suki shrugged.

"It was so long ago…" Sokka sheepishly grinned as they stood in line in the cafeteria.

"Yeah, an entire year…year and a half ago?" Katara rolled her eyes.

"Katara!" Aang called to her from outside of the line.

"Aang!" Katara waved. "See you guys later!"

"Talk about rude…just leave the conversation!" Sokka exclaimed. Katara ignored him.

"Hey, want to go sit outside? The weather is finally perfect!" Aang suggested.

"Sounds great!" Katara grinned. "Did the biology lab go okay?"

"Yeah, our lab group got extra credit for cleaning up because everyone cleared out as soon as the bell rang." Aang grinned.

"Awesome! Not like you need it though," Katara laughed. They found a free shady area out in front of the school and sat down. "Speaking of grades and stuff, are you still planning on coming over after school today to study?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, I told Uncle Gyatso I was." Aang opened up his brown paper bag.

"Okay," Katara grinned. "Sokka is having Suki over so we can have like a study group or something like that. Maybe we can all pitch in a couple bucks and have pizza delivered."

"Awesome," Aang took a bite out of his sandwich. They were silent for a couple moments. "I can't believe this year is almost over."

"Yeah, it was a crazy year." Katara thoughtfully nodded.

"A great year…I finally asked you out!" Aang chuckled.

"And I'm glad you finally did! I had only been waiting since like sixth grade!" Katara giggled.

"That would have been a little strange if a middle school kid was 'dating' an elementary school kid." Aang laughed.

"All right, you got me there. I couldn't have asked for perfect timing." Katara pecked him on the cheek. After they finished their lunch, they relaxed out on the school lawn for a little while longer until it was time for class. Aang walked Katara to her class and said his goodbyes until the end of the day.

"It'll only be another three hours before you see her again, give her another kiss for me, Twinkle Toes." Toph snuck up behind the two.

"Toph!" Aang growled. "Let's get to class…see you, Katara." The day passed slowly for everyone, but eventually the last bell rang and students poured out of the classes. Aang met Katara at her locker as she carefully selected the books she wanted to bring home.

"Hey, bitch!" Zuko called from down the hall.

"Ugh, I thought I'd get through one hour of him not harassing me!" Katara groaned.

"An hour?" Aang shot a look at Zuko.

"Yeah at the end of the period before last Zuko's an office aid and he dropped by a message for someone in our class. Lucky for me he spotted me and stopped to talk for a while before the teacher noticed." Katara sneered at Zuko.

"Oh you were hardly working on that Math work anyway." Zuko rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I had something important to discuss here."

"What? That your perfect hair isn't laying right today?" Katara rolled her eyes.

"My hair is perfect, thank you." Zuko shot back. "I'd just like to bring to your attention that it's a Friday afternoon and I have nothing to do!"

"Not our problem!" Katara shut her locker and started to walk away. "You have a girlfriend, take her out to dinner and a movie."

"Not when her Nazi parents are ruling over the house. Besides you guys are more fun to annoy anyway." Zuko shrugged.

"Zuko…just to let you know, we intend to study for our finals, because we haven't blown off our education like you have!" Katara snapped.

"Hey, don't just assume things about me." Zuko quietly mumbled.

"What? I can't assume you don't really care about your education because you only taken nothing but free periods this entire semester and not challenge yourself by taking harder accelerated classes to get into college?" Katara lashed out.

"Katara, what is your problem?" Aang asked backing away in fear.

"He hasn't been living in your basement for the past ten months or how long has it been?" Katara growled as they arrived at Suki's locker.

"What is going on here?" Sokka could only stare in awe as he watched Katara blow up at Zuko.

"It's only been like four…" Aang muttered.

"It's felt like ten!" Katara roared.

"Hey, relax…I'm going to be out of your house by summer." Zuko shrugged. "Which is like what four weeks? Not even that."

"Oh, it's_ this_ thing. Katara's been insane for like the past week about Zuko about this. You know, if she wasn't with Aang and he wasn't with Mai, I'd say it was a matter of days until these two got together." Sokka shrugged at Suki.

"What the hell, Sokka?" Katara flipped her anger towards him.

"Nothing, continue blowing up him, please." Sokka bowed towards Zuko. "We're walking towards the car."

"The only reason I'm not in the honors program is because of my grades from last year." Zuko explained.

"So now your saying you want to try?" Katara exasperatedly rolled her eyes.

"I'm saying I want to at least get a job and get into a community college." Zuko clenched his fist.

"Well it's nice to know the douche from high school has a low standard dream." Katara tightened the straps on her backpack irritably.

"Life hasn't always bee been sunshine and rainbows for me, Katara! What the hell is your problem?" Zuko roared. Mai met them at the front lobby, joining the rest of the students in giving Zuko and Katara odd looks.

"What the hell is going on you guys? You're only making a drama scene fit for a teen soap opera." Mai dryly commented.

"Katara thinks she's miss perfect by judging everyone again." Zuko rolled his eyes. "Can you do something tonight? Like sneak out? Blast the bars off your window? Please?"

"Zuko, I can tell my parents I'm going to the library to study. I'll be fine." Mai shrugged.

"Omigod, really?" Zuko asked. "Thank you! Are we going to the library?"

"Do you have to study?" Mai asked.

"Uh, not seriously? How about a coffee shop date, instead?" Zuko asked.

"Sounds good, do you want to meet there at five?" Mai asked.

"Dinner at six-thirty?" Zuko added.

"Your treat." Mai smirked.

"Well, I'm glad we solved your problem of having nothing to do, Zuko." Katara rolled her eyes.

"Thanks, Mrs. Bitch." Zuko folded his arms. "I'll see you guys at home!"

"Wait, does that make me Mr. Bitch?" Aang asked, in a confused voice.

"I believe that does, Mr. Bitch." Sokka put his arm around Aang after he had said goodbye to Suki. "Now, come on. This is only the eighty-ninth time you've missed the bus this semester. Are you getting in or what?"

"Well, Aang wouldn't have been going home, because he's coming over to study, remember?" Katara growled.

"Right, whatever." Sokka rolled his eyes. "Get in…"

**0o0o0o0**

First, I was trying to make it more Kataang, but as soon as that happened Zuko snuck in and just made Katara appear bipolar. WTH. WTHHHH. I CAN'T CONTROL MY CHARACTERS. THEY RUN RAMPANT. REALLY. Uh, something else, but then the Katara/bipolar thing came up...I personally have felt like I haven't used Sokka's POV, or done enough Sokka/Suki to even consider it apart of the fanfic. So that's how this started out.

I'm going to amend the whole bipolar thing next chapter though. Not try, do. See that Yoda quote there? I'm legit. Or I'll just make her more bipolar. TUNE IN NEXT TIME. We'll see how much time I have in between Calc homework and College Comp and Econ and PROGRAMMING. I'M ENTERING HELL. FK;ALDKFJ;ALEKFJ;

Oh I remember what else! FINALS. Yeah, I know you're probably not taking them, I'm not taking them, I just got over them. But these guys have been going to school for too long. And I can't stand stories with no sense of time. And this is what it's turning into, due to my lack of updates. Remember when I actually posted that Christmas update ON Christmas like two years ago? Three? Hell when was that? Yeah, okay in this story time line it's still the same school year and it's starting to bug me. So I'm moving this along. Hell, by the time I ACTUALLY GET TO SUMMER, IT WILL BE SUMMER. And summer chapters? THEY'LL PROBABLY LAST ANOTHER YEAR. Okay, so...if I get a ton of reviews/PMs that say OMG YOU'RE ENDING THIS, NO, I'LL KILL MYSELF. I'm not taking it, because I'm not ending it. I'm just moving the story along. Okay. Any other concerns take it up with me through PM. Okay now reviews...

Thanks again so much to my loverly reviewers. This would totally not exist if you guys weren't here persistently reminding me TO UPDATEEEE. I'm just glad to know I'm loved.

cpdx, Thanks again for reviewing...but I want to refrain from getting these high school girls pregnant. If you're looking for that kind of fanfiction I'm sure there are great ones out there, but for now I'm refraining from writing that kind of fic.

Katsumara, Thanks! -fails for updating so late- Hope you had a happy holiday too!

The Confused Airbender, Haha, yep...as long as M Night does do a sequel. -shakes head- AH...well...community service...How about serving the community and updating? OMG, THE KUNG FU IDEA. I need to write that down somewhere...And figure out where to put that in. Yes, yes...okay. Hmm...I can maybe...yes...maybe a small part...but a part...and hmm...I can...yes...I'm going to keep thinking about that. YES. Okay.

Kataangfan19, sorry, I haven't been doing much reading of fics lately. (I should to see what some competition fic looks like) But as everyone can see I can hardly find time to write my own fic. I'm sure it's great though^^

ramdomperson, thanks! I'm actually a computer science major because my parents want me to do something that will actually make money. But so far I really, really don't like it. I would absolutely love to become a professional fiction writer, but trying to get a publisher to even look at something is extremely hard. So right now I'm pursuing writing as a hobby. And when I have my own book out you guys will be the first to know! Right now the only writing classes I'm taking is a university-wide requirement college composition, which is hell cause it's just rhetoric and arguments. I WISH I WAS IN CREATIVE WRITING. TT_TT

Look at me ramble on...Okay then!


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